The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Every year when the top ten lists flood the internet, inevitably there are the same few films that wind up on most of the lists.  They are deemed the “best” of the year, and when I do get around to seeing them all, I’m usually inclined to agree.  Good is good, and great is great, but I find there is a difference between the film I think is the best and the one film of the year that was my favorite.  I find it’s the one film that I can watch over and over again, and more importantly it’s the film I can connect to on an emotional level.  This has been the same for me in years past, in 1999 “American Beauty” was the best film of that year, but “Fight Club” was my favorite.  Last year “Argo” was the best, but “The Avengers” is the one I watch over and over with and without my kids.  I’m not sure what the best film will be this year, but I did find my favorite in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”.

Directed and starring Ben Stiller as the title character, Walter is a consummate daydreamer, his fantasies are so vivid and he is pulled into his own head so deep that he zones out to everyone around him.  He is an average run-of-the-mill, slightly dull man who works in the negative assets department of the soon to be shut down Life magazine.  Walter fantasizes about telling off the office bullies and introducing himself to the girl of his dreams in the grandest of ways. That is until he is pulled into reality when he has to retrieve a photo negative from obscure, eccentric and ever elusive photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn).  His real life expedition takes him to different parts of the world doing things he’s only imagined.

Stiller captures something magical here, not so much in his portrayal of Walter, but the world he inhabits, both in this head and outside of it.  His treatment of the character is one he’s played before, just a simple guy turned down a few notches on the emotional ladder.  Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) is Cheryl, the object of Mitty’s affection, and much like Stiller, Wiig plays her very vanilla.  Which I’m sure was done by design, she is likeable, but not adorable, and only truly stands out when she’s in Walter’s mind.  Penn as the mysterious O’Connell is a bit underused, but maybe it’s because he owns his entire time on screen.  The other characters all add something to the story whether it’s the subdued performance by Shirley MacLaine as Walter’s mother or the overly goofy, yet hilarious Adam Scott in an equally funny beard.

What makes “Mitty” special is the same as what people say about life, that it’s all about the journey.  There are some beautiful images captured on film, and not so surprisingly they are the grand shots of nature.  The sun, the ocean, and the sky.  The CGI moments are just that, computer generated.  While some are real fun to see in a “Family Guy” and “Looney Tunes” kind of way, nothing compares to images of Stiller racing down an empty road on a longboard, or taking a helicopter ride, or something as unassuming as a dirt-paved soccer game at sundown.  There is predictability throughout the film, but it doesn’t take away the pleasure you get from seeing it all play out on the big screen accompanied by a fantastic soundtrack.

Sometimes you’re just in the mood to see certain films, that’s what makes reviewing them so subjective.  You bring your own life experiences with you into the movie auditorium, and your sensibilities influence your enjoyment of a particular piece of cinema.  I was ready to see a film like this one, its rated PG and it deserves to be.  Everyone should see “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”, you will not find another film this year that is so incredibly filled with fun, fantasy, and most of all…hope.

--Robert L. Castillo