The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) Review

Rated PG (Some Crude Comments, Language and Action Violence)

Running Time: 1 Hour & 54 Minutes

Cast-

Ben Stiller-Walter Mitty

Kristen Wiig-Cheryl Melhoff

Adam Scott-Ted Hendricks

Shirley MacLaine-Edna Mitty

Kathryn Hahn-Odessa Mitty

Adrian Martinez-Hernando

Patton Oswalt-Todd Maher

Sean Penn-Sean O'Connell

Jonathon C. Daly-Tim Naughton

Terence Bernie Hines-Gary Mannheim

Paul Fitzgerald-Don Proctor

Ólafur Darri Ólafsson-Drunken Helicopter Pilot

Þórhallur Sigurðsson-Trawler Captain

Ari Matthíasson-Trawler 1st Mate

Directed by Ben Stiller

Ben Stiller's Walter Mitty finds the titular character turning his fantasies into reality as he embarks on a globe-trotting adventure.

Note: Screened on Thursday, December 5, 2013 at Regal Union Square Stadium 14.

The opening scene in Ben Stiller's latest film, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," finds the titular character sitting in his small apartment while he quietly goes over his latest expenses. Midway through his task, Walter decides to turn on his laptop and check his eHarmony profile. After running a general search, he discovers that his co-worker, Cheryl Melhoff, is also on eHarmony, with her profile stating that she is looking for a man who is adventurous, brave, courageous, and most importantly, employed. Her likes include her sister and mystery novels while her dislikes are ironically her sister and internet dating. Walter wants to send a 'wink' to Cheryl but hesitates at the last second, with his finger hovering over the button on his keyboard. He finally goes through with it several minutes later but the website is unable to complete his request. Walter tries again a few more times, only to receive the same error. Frustrated, he turns off his laptop and leaves. I don't know if Stiller secretly looked inside my head but this is a situation that I know all too well. I would be doing my homework when suddenly this girl, whom I had a deep crush on, would pop up online on AOL Instant Messenger. With the chat window open, I would agonize for several minutes (sometimes half an hour) about whether I should initiate a conversation. It's such a silly thing to worry about in hindsight but I am, at heart, a big romantic and I suspect Stiller is as well. This is why I ended up enjoying his latest film in spite of its mixed reception among critics. Its themes aren't exactly subtle but "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" remains a wonderful, charming film that's backed up by gorgeous cinematography and a sincere earnestness that never feels false.

For the past sixteen years, Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) has been handling and cataloguing photo negatives as a 'negative assets' manager for LIFE magazine in New York City. Meek and unassuming, Walter frequently escapes from his humdrum, routine existence by daydreaming of fantastic adventures and imagining himself as a courageous hero. However, reality soon comes knocking on his door when he learns from his co-workers that LIFE magazine is about to be downsized, with the new owners—led by corporate bean-counter Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott)—choosing to scuttle the print edition and moving the entire operation online. Layoffs are imminent. Famed photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) delivers his last batch of photos to Walter and singles out number twenty-five, revealing in a note that it captures 'the quintessence of Life' and that it should be used as the cover for the magazine's final issue. The only problem is that the negative for the photo is missing. To track down Sean (since he's always on the road and eschews using a cell phone), Walter enlists the aid of his secret crush Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). He learns from her that Sean is in Greenland and decides to put aside his doubts and fears by personally going after the photographer himself. This leads Walter on a wondrous journey that will not only inspire him but also change his outlook on life.

Loosely (and I must really emphasize this word) based on the 1939 short story by James Thurber and previously adapted for the big screen in 1947 by director Norman Z. McLeod, Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is basically the best commercial that Nike has never made. It's an oversimplification that's meant to be taken as a compliment. Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., whose father had produced McLeod's film, originally conceived the idea of doing a remake in 1994 with Jim Carrey in the title role but the project ended up languishing in development hell for seventeen years. Directors like Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg, Mark Waters, and Gore Verbinski came and went, with the role of Walter Mitty going through a succession of actors that included Carrey, Owen Wilson, Mike Myers, and Sacha Baron Cohen. Ben Stiller was cast in April 2011 and a mere two months later, was confirmed as director. Although classified as a remake, it would be more appropriate to call Stiller's version a reimagining. It is thematically similar to McLeod's adaptation but most of the details have been changed. Instead of being a pulp magazine editor, Walter is now a lowly office drone who spends his days handling and cataloguing photo negatives. The only aspect that writer Steve Conrad (whose previous credits include 2005's "The Weather Man" and 2006's "The Pursuit of Happyness") takes from Thurber's sub-2000 word tale is that Walter tends to space out and escape his own banal existence with flights of fancy. Stiller has a lot of fun with these daydream sequences, finding the main character rescuing Cheryl's three-legged dog from an exploding building and engaging in a lengthy, city-wide battle with Adam Scott's smarmy Ted Hendricks—a scene that would feel right at home in "The Avengers." The film doesn't always indicate when Walter is lost in one of his fantasies so a nagging question that you'll get is whether it's all simply one big dream. Fortunately, Stiller doesn't resort to such an obvious cop-out at the end.

One line that's repeated throughout the film is LIFE magazine's motto: 'To see things thousands of miles away, things hidden behind walls and within rooms, things dangerous to come to, that is the purpose of life.' This is pretty much the theme for "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," with the second half finding the titular character going on a globe-trotting adventure and turning fantasy into reality. Many critics have accused Stiller of devolving into calculated schmaltz but I feel that cynicism has clouded their judgment. This is a film that soundly rejects cynicism and while the material is lacking in nuance, it makes up for it with sincere earnestness. From Walter leaping into a rickety helicopter with a drunken pilot at the helm to him skateboarding toward a massive volcano on the verge of eruption, the film shows that life doesn't always have to be a dull routine and that sometimes, you have to risk taking a leap of faith. However, that doesn't mean you should be reckless. The point is to appreciate life in all its beauty, something that cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh captures in one gorgeous shot after another. It truly does add a sense of wonder to Walter's journey. The scope of the film is huge but Stiller and Conrad keep the stakes grounded. In hindsight, Walter's quest to locate Sean and the photo negative seems trivial, considering that he's about to be laid off anyway. However, it's not about the goal; it's about the newfound sense of purpose he receives from the journey. This is someone who's worked at the same job for sixteen years, a job he's dutifully performed without question. Walter will lose his job and he might not even get the girl but Sean trusted him with his photos and even if it's the last thing he does, he will fulfill the photographer's last request. I really admire that. Even when there's no reward waiting at the end, Walter soldiers on because it means something to him, and life without meaning isn't worth living.

The performances, while low-key, are wonderful, with Ben Stiller charmingly endearing as the titular Walter Mitty. It's clear that the actor was immensely passionate about the role, enough to pull triple-duty by additionally serving as the film's director and producer. The fact that his character is unable to work up the courage to speak to his crush Cheryl and even struggles with sending her a 'wink' on eHarmony was something that I really identified with. There's a scene where Walter eavesdrops on Cheryl as she recounts her weekend to her friend. When she jokes about bathing in arctic mountain water while her Latin lover recited poetry, he imagines himself as a rugged mountain climber with a seductive Hispanic accent and a 'poetry falcon' perched on his shoulder. It's a cute moment that reminds us that we've all daydreamed about wooing our crush while imagining ourselves as someone else. Kristen Wiig doesn't get as much screen-time as I had I hoped and her character is largely an ideal but the quiet scenes she shares with Stiller are sweet, especially one lovely moment where Walter imagines Cheryl serenading him with a soulful acoustic cover of David Bowie's 1969 song Space Oddity. Adam Scott, complete with a douchey-looking beard, is appropriately slimy as Walter's new corporate overlord, although his character does approach being a caricature at times. Shirley MacLaine and Kathryn Hahn deliver fine supporting turns as Walter's mother and sister while Sean Penn, in an extended cameo, captures the world-weary demeanor of someone who's seen it all but can still be amazed by something as simple as a snow leopard.

Premiering at the New York Film Festival back in October and set to be released on December 25, 2013, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" has received largely mixed reviews with 48% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics noted that 'it doesn't lack for ambition, but [the film] fails to back up its grand designs with enough substance to anchor the spectacle.' General audiences will likely be more receptive toward the picture but any hopes of winning awards have all but evaporated given its less-than-positive reaction from pundits. Fortunately, Stiller has had a lot of success this time of year so a $100 million gross at the domestic box office isn't too far from the realm of possibility. It's not among 2013's best but Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" remains a marvelous film that's full of whimsy and charm. It is, on almost all accounts, 'noteworthy and mentionable.'

Final Rating: 4 out of 5

"Life is about courage and going into the unknown."