MOVIE INFO

1. WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?

2. WARM-UP

3. DIVE IN

POINTS TOREMEMBER

SECONDHAND LIONS

7.6 out of 10

9 out of 10

Critics: 59%Audience: 84%

Suggested answer: Walter, a neglected child who is entering his teens andtransitioning from a boy into a man, begins to forge his understanding ofmanhood from the wild tales of his Uncle Garth and the even wilder exploitsof his Uncle Hub.

Suggested answer: Walter makes the decisive step to manhood by breakingaway from his neglectful mother and embrace the high idealism of his uncles.

Suggested answer: Walter, Uncle Hub and Uncle Garth.

Notes: Some people have been put off by the portrayal of men in this movie. Ifyou face the same thing in your discussion, embrace it. Ask why they don't likeit. Or, if your crew happens to love it, talk about why they love it. Let yourcrew talk and learn from them. Your time to talk is coming later in thediscussion.

Secondhand Lions is not giving ananswer so much as it is raising aquestion: What does it mean to be aman?

To put that another way, if you had totell a 12 year old boy what it means tobe a man, what would you tell him?This is a surprisingly hard question!

This is a coming of age story, so theplot is not as important as the issuesyoung Walter is struggling with.

Discussability Rating

What is the central problem of the movie?

How is the central problem resolved?

What do you think about Uncle Hub and Uncle Garth as men?

Notes: If your crew is young, you may want to skip this question.

For today's viewers, the stories of swashbuckling and getting the girl mayseem completely foreign. If so, ask what ideals a man should have if not thosein the movie.

Find more Dad's Movie Discussions at http://tonypapadakis.com.All rights reserved, tonypapadakis.com

Uncle Hub and Uncle Garth portray manhood as something ofvery high ideals. What do you think of their idealism?

Notes: This speech is the beating heart of the movie. It is painfully short.But, remember, it is intentionally short. It is not trying to answer thequestion what it means to be a man: it is trying to get us to answer thatquestion.

We get a small slice of Uncle Hub's "What every boy needs toknow about being a man" speech. What do you think of it?

Notes: This is the "million dollar question," so to speak. When I first took astab at this with my kiddos, I made it clear that this was a first attempt and Ireserve the right to change my answer later. When I circled back around tothe movie a year later, I did indeed change my answer! So don't worryabout getting it right the first time--this is a very hard question!

What do you think it means to be a real man?

Rotten Tomatoes Rating

IMDB Rating

DAD'SMOVIEDISCUSSION

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DAD'SMOVIEDISCUSSION

HOW TO USE THIS HANDOUT

HOW TO USE THIS HANDOUT

3 EASY STEPS!

FIND MORE MOVIES

THE HANDOUT

HOW TO LEAD A MOVIE DISCUSSION

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

WATCH THE MOVIE WITHYOUR FAMILY

USE THE HANDOUT TOGUIDE YOUR DISCUSSION

MOVIE INFO

POINTS TO REMEMBER

WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS?

WARM-UP

DIVE IN!

Each movie has a podcast thatgives you insights into themovie.

You can find more great movies to watchand discuss with your family athttp://tonypapadakis.com

This is the easy part!

Your conversation may not stickwith the worksheet--no problem! Just go with it!

If this is your first time, it is normal to feel awkward. Stick with it! It getseasier the more you do it.

Don't be surprised if your discussion feels like herding kittens. Talkingwith children is often like that!

Whether you lead the discussion standing or sitting depends on your livingroom. Just make sure everyone can see you and everyone elsecomfortably. Rearrange the furniture a little if needed.

Ask questions, listen, and affirm your children. Do not dismiss an answer,not even the answers you think are absurd. A child who is dismissed is achild who will stop talking, and you want your child to talk.

After listening, feel free to talk and teach. Just keep it short, no more than5 minutes. Being brief is more important than being thorough.

This handout has 5 sections to help you lead a movie discussion

This section gives you some information about what other peoplethought of it. We provide a Discussability Rating which rates the movie'sability to provide a good discussion without your family.

You can teach important life lessons in a wayyour children will hear you!

Parents want to talk to their children, butoften they don't know how. So why not usemovies to talk to them?

We pick the movies and give you everythingyou need to lead a discussion.

Once you're ready, you watch the movie andthen lead a discussion about it. Kids don'tlisten to parental lectures, but they will talkwith parents about a movie.

This section provides a couple highlights from the podcast about themovie to keep them fresh for you. The podcast focuses on theimportant points of the movie and prepare you to lead the discussion.

Asking this question focuses you on the essential character(s). Don'tspend a lot of time on this. If a person is not obviously a main character,he isn't.

This section focuses your thinking on the essential thread of the movie. It focuses on the central problem and how that problem gets resolved. Not every movie actually resolves its central problem, but most do.

This is where the real discussion happens. The questions are providedto help you lead a discussion with your family. Feel free to add, subtractor modify the questions. Do what works for your family!

YOU CAN DO THIS!