In one of the more eccentric and imaginative endeavors in modern film, Secondhand Lions tells the story of African adventures while set in the cornfields of Texas. As improbable as that concept may seem, the film's storytelling heart allows the imagination of a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) to run wild while listening to the tall tales of youthful adventures in Africa as told by his recently rich, but equally eccentric uncles (Michael Caine and Robert Duvall). While the actual setting of the film is rooted in America's South, the cartoonish adventures span the globe in Indiana Jones fashion, and before production even began on Secondhand Lions, director Tim McCanlies had his heart set upon the services of composer Patrick Doyle to bring out the varied emotions of these travels. Although McCanlies was a fan of Doyle's classics of the past 15 years, the director had chosen to use a Korngold approach of swashbuckling heroics for his temp score. Charged with writing music that was very heavily layered with thematic development, Doyle was given a full year to score Secondhand Lions. Through McCanlies' style of working, Doyle would be involved with the production to such an extent that voice-overs by Michael Caine would have to be re-recorded in greater volume to compensate for the loftier heights of Doyle's background music. For fans of Doyle's music who have wondered where the composer's efforts had been directed in the past few sparse film scoring years, Secondhand Lions is mostly the answer (along with Doyle's other continuing projects outside of the film scoring arena). Due to both budgetary constraints and a growing confidence in the spirit of Eastern European recording ensembles and facilities, Doyle journeyed to Bratislava and recorded the score with Slovakian players (most of whom, helpfully, speak English).

Doyle is proud of his work for Secondhand Lions because it is one of the more varied examples of his talents. He addresses the needs of the Texas location to some extent (with a banjo and slide guitar in only a few places), but his collection of bold and emotionally diverse themes range mostly from the Korngoldian era of swashbuckling adventure to the lyrical drums and vocals of the African jungle. At the core of the score are those many themes and motifs, and all of them exhibit the same rich harmony and emotional depth that fans of the composer have come to expect. There are snippets of Doyle's flowing romance from his Shakespearian scores, but for listeners who have heard Doyle provide these sounds before, the action and adventure are the truly enticing elements here. As for swashbuckling writing, we know from his early Shipwrecked music that he is capable of superb brass for the high seas. In Secondhand Lions, many great sea-faring and adventure ideas are introduced, but few of them last long enough to sustain that level of excitement. The same difficulty arises when enjoying the African cues. The performances of African percussion and Ola Onabue's vocals have the same boyish charm, and yet their appearances are scattered throughout the film and album as well. Thus, you finish with a collection of Doyle's typically strong ideas, but with perhaps a few too many loose ends to completely satisfy you. That said, Doyle's ability to compose with simple themes, often with triumphant brass in counterpoint, is what holds this effort together. Nowhere is this heroic spirit more evident than in the French horn performances of "Walter Comes Home," with perhaps even a slight thematic lift at the end from James Horner's Apollo 13.

The sustained quality of thematic integration in Secondhand Lions causes the score to become what Quest for Camelot could have been if it had not been interrupted constantly by songs and slapstick cues. A particular highlight is the saddening, but beautiful performance by Doyle's son, Patrick Doyle Jr. (whose voice is outstanding), in the "She Was a Real Lion" cue. That performance is the culmination of the story's touching, sentimental side, reminding the listener that the storytellers who are offering these adventures from their youths are themselves at the twilight of their lives. Film critics, however, knocked Secondhand Lions for being too sappy and emotionally pure, and some of that overly-dramatic taste may very well have resulted from Doyle's contribution. On album, the score is presented in 45 minutes without interruption, ending in an elegant piano performance of the film's primary thematic ideas (it's not as rolling and intense as East-West or his other heavily dramatic piano work, but it's a softer variant). Although the album supposedly offers a fantastic collection of extra multimedia on its enhanced portion --and this time, unlike most albums with enhanced material only pertaining to the film itself, this one is actually relates to the construction of the score, its sheet music, and interviews about the music-- the features seem to be inaccessible on some Apple MacIntosh-platformed computers. Still, collectors of Doyle's work will not want to pass on this album; it presents Doyle at his most adventurous, and for his fans who have been frustrated with his primarily classical, arthouse scores of recent years, Secondhand Lions will be a welcome return to styles of times past.

Please be sure to read the original review