Reception
Reviews for the film were mixed. Based on 129 reviews collected by the film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, 59% of critics gave Secondhand Lions a positive review. Film critic James Berardinelli said "Despite flaws that are (for the most part) easily overlooked, this film has enough charm and whimsy to capture the attention and imagination of children and parents alike." Stephen Holden of The New York Times said the film "may be pure hokum, but at least it knows how to spin a yarn."
The Hollywood Reporter's Sheri Linden said "McCanlies has more of an inclination toward schmaltz, but the deft restraint of topliners Michael Caine and Robert Duvall tempers the narrative with a wry, poignant reserve." Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times praised the performances of Caine, Duvall and Osment but said "Almost all the film's peripheral characters, from Walter's mother and her boyfriend to a family of grasping relatives, are clichéd in an overly broad, unfunny way that is unpleasant in itself and a marked contrast to the more nuanced performances of the trio of leads." The Boston Globe critic, Wesley Morris, criticized the film's portrayal of Arab people and women, describing it as "uncomfortably retrograde" and "troubling".
The film grossed $42,070,939 in North America and $5,831,627 for the rest of the world, adding up to a total worldwide gross of $47,902,566.
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“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody’s face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it.”
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“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
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