In SECONDHAND LIONS, their great-nephew Walter (Haley Joel Osment) has come to live with them for the summer, since his flighty mother, Mae (Kyra Sedgwick), is off to court-reporter school, or so she claims. Walter is a taciturn kid who doesn't know how to smile. Osment is three or four years too old for his part but does the best he can in the wrong role.

Walter's summer with his uncles ignites his faith in mankind, thanks to a long whopper of a story that Garth tells about Hub's exploits decades ago in Africa. The two of them, Garth explains, were shanghaied into the French Foreign Legion. Meanwhile, back on the farm, everyone in town believes the uncles have a large stash of loot buried somewhere.

The very broadly written comedy by Tim McCanlies, who also directs, is full of outlandish adventures. The uncles like to fish with rifles and fly biplanes under overpasses. The movie is just silly and sappy enough that it might appeal to preteens, but I can't see many outside of that age group embracing it. Still, if you're a fan of tearjerker endings, you could end up roaring for SECONDHAND LIONS.

SECONDHAND LIONS runs 1:41. It is rated PG for "thematic material, language and action violence" and would be acceptable for kids around 8 and up.