One can't help but chuckle at the irony; the boring and insignificant Walter
Mitty (Ben Stiller) works at LIFE Magazine. It's an obvious, fairly easy gag
for
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but then again it's a fairly
obvious film with a clear mandate to be a big, uplifting, charmer about taking
life by the horns. Directed with ambition that occasionally exceeds Stiller's
grasp, it's a film that's easy to mock but has enough good heart and whimsy to
be just as easy to love.
Stiller dials down the goofy antics just a tad as the shy and forgettable
Walter Mitty, a negative aspect manager at LIFE magazine, and yes the job is as
boring as daily existence. When we first meet him he's staring at the EHarmony
profile of Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), a colleague he's been crushing on but never
had the stones to talk to. Does he even have the guts to electronically reach
out and make the first move? At times of indecision and great anxiety, Walter's
vivid imagination takes over, imagining himself to be more confident, more
adventurous, manlier, more EVERYTHING than he is in reality.
Stiller balances Walter's surreal escapism with a dose of cold hard truth; the
print world is dying and LIFE magazine is going digital, firing most of the
staff and putting his own job in jeopardy. The villainous corporate stooge
designed to oversee the change (Adam Scott, in a ridiculous beard that screams
"bad guy") doesn't see much value in Walter's job developing photos,
but that changes when renowned photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn,
enigmatic as ever) sends in an image that is said to capture the very essence
of the magazine. The only problem is that Walter can't find this life-changing
photo, and in an effort to save his job must break out of his shell and start
living.
In his fifth directorial effort, Stiller shows real signs of growth, and
with the aid of cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh the film has a dreamlike
malleability not unlike the work of Michel Gondry. In one stirring scene a
flock of birds circle to form Cheryl's loving face; in another his breathy
words are scrawled across the screen like a journal log, capturing his newfound
explorer's spirit. As Walter's journey takes him from Greenland to Iceland
and the highest mountains of the Himalayas, the gap between the life he leads
and the one he desires begins to close.
As Stiller indulges visually, he shows a total lack of restraint elsewhere
in ways that hurt the film tremendously. Embarrassing levels of distracting
product placement too often resemble one long commercial ad, and much of
Walter's trek is condensed through song-heavy montage. We can't help but wish
there was a little more magic on display in his magical adventure. Patton
Oswalt voices a pestering EHarmony rep who is constantly calling in while
Walter expands his horizons, and their conversations don't really need anything
other than to emphasize what we can see with our own eyes. Despite these
problems,
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an earnest and sincere
story about turning one's dreams into positive action. As other movies this
Christmas seem to be about pushing the limits of good taste, Ben Stiller is
delivering the one true feel-good movie of the season.
Stiller dials down the goofy antics just a tad as the shy and forgettable
Walter Mitty, a negative aspect manager at LIFE magazine, and yes the job is as
boring as daily existence. When we first meet him he's staring at the EHarmony
profile of Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), a colleague he's been crushing on but never
had the stones to talk to. Does he even have the guts to electronically reach
out and make the first move? At times of indecision and great anxiety, Walter's
vivid imagination takes over, imagining himself to be more confident, more
adventurous, manlier, more EVERYTHING than he is in reality. 
Stiller balances Walter's surreal escapism with a dose of cold hard truth; the
print world is dying and LIFE magazine is going digital, firing most of the
staff and putting his own job in jeopardy. The villainous corporate stooge
designed to oversee the change (Adam Scott, in a ridiculous beard that screams
"bad guy") doesn't see much value in Walter's job developing photos,
but that changes when renowned photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn,
enigmatic as ever) sends in an image that is said to capture the very essence
of the magazine. The only problem is that Walter can't find this life-changing
photo, and in an effort to save his job must break out of his shell and start
living.
As Stiller indulges visually, he shows a total lack of restraint elsewhere
in ways that hurt the film tremendously. Embarrassing levels of distracting
product placement too often resemble one long commercial ad, and much of
Walter's trek is condensed through song-heavy montage. We can't help but wish
there was a little more magic on display in his magical adventure. Patton
Oswalt voices a pestering EHarmony rep who is constantly calling in while
Walter expands his horizons, and their conversations don't really need anything
other than to emphasize what we can see with our own eyes. Despite these
problems, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is an earnest and sincere
story about turning one's dreams into positive action. As other movies this
Christmas seem to be about pushing the limits of good taste, Ben Stiller is
delivering the one true feel-good movie of the season.
