Second Hand Lions

The heart of Secondhand Lions is encapsulated in a speech that Hub McCann gives to young Walter . We first hear of this speech , which Garth McCann calls the "Everything a boy needs to know about becoming a man" speech , when Hub delivers it to the young hoods after he initially beats them up, then brings them home and feeds them.

That scene was played in a long shot from the porch, where Garth and Walter are sitting, so we don't get to hear what Hub says to the hoods.

Later, Hub gives an upset Walter an excerpt of his speech to encourage him , and it is this excerpt that has moved and inspired many fans of this film.

We have received many queries asking if the entire "Everything a boy needs to know about becoming a man" speech exists, and if so, where to find a copy of it.

Unfortunately, much as we ourselves had hoped that a copy of the entire speech exists somewhere, the answer to that query came from Tim McCanlies himself who says in his Director's Commentary on the Secondhand Lions DVD :

" I never had any of that scripted , because it was supposed to be far away ( ie: the scene was a long shot from the porch ) "

So there you have it, although we really wish that the entire speech existed, all we have of that speech is the excerpt that Hub McCann gave a distraught young Walter to comfort and to encourage him that night by the lake, when he was feeling the hurt of his mother's lies.

Refresh your screen to view the scene again

" Sometimes the things that may or may not be true are the things a man needs to believe in the most. That people are basically good. That honour, courage and virtue mean everything ; that power and money ... money and power mean nothing. That good always triumphs over evil. And I want you to remember this.... that love....true love never dies ! Remember that boy ... remember that. Doesn't matter if it is true or not, a man should believe in those things , because those are the things worth believing in...... got that ? "

Although the excerpt was very short, the words and message are very powerful, beautifully written , and have moved and impacted many who have seen this film.

It is important , however, to understand this speech in the context of the entire film , otherwise it may appear that Hub is saying that truth is not important , especially since he prefaced the speech with , " If you want to believe in something, then believe in it! Just because something isn't true, that's no reason you can't believe in it! "

Far from saying that truth is not important , what Hub was trying to impress upon Walter was that it was important to believe the things that are important to believe , that " people were basically good, that honour and courage and virtue mean everything, that good always triumphs over evil " .... even if nobody else believed in them , even if ‘facts,’ experience and the opinions of others contradicted what you believe , because those are the things worth believing in !