by Grant
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the second film adaptation of the 1939 short story with the same name. The first film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod and apparently ranks 479th out of 5000 of the best movies of all time, according to a 2008 issue of Empire Magazine. The 2014 remake is directed by Ben Stiller who also stars in it. Stiller is no newcomer to directing, he has directed several films including The Cable Guy, Tropic Thunder, and Zoolander. None of which I have seen, although Zoolander is on my list.
The target audience of the movie is middle aged adults who may or may not drag their kids along with them. I say this is due to the fact that the plot is essentially a glorified mid-life crisis. The reason they might bring their kids along is to teach them the importance of "living in the moment" and/or "don't let life pass you by" these themes are present throughout the film.
The actual plot centers around a negative assets manager for Time Magazine with a co worker as his love interest. This guy is the biggest day dreamer ever. In the movie he will be drinking coffee then he imagines he is having a superhuman fight with a co worker over a stretch Armstrong doll. The daydreaming is because his regular life is so boring. The film helps reinforce this with well done shots of his daily life. However, this is also where some flaws show; the most glaring of which is that some characters are just not believable. Another problem is some of the computer generated imaging (CGI) during his day dreams could of been better.
Back to the plot. Time Magazine is publishing it's last issue before it transitions into an online platform. Walter is sent a packet of negatives from Sean Penn, the main photographer. Sean leaves specific instructions saying to use negative 25 for the cover, which is the one negative that is missing. With the threat of losing his job, he sets off on this adventure to find the illusive Sean Penn. This is where the film shines, at least for me. The locations he goes to, such as Iceland, Greenland and Tibet, are really interesting. During his adventure there are some pretty funny parts, nothing that will get you rofling but enjoyable nonetheless. Another problem with the film is it is riddled with cliches that you see coming early on.
All and all despite its flaws, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a decent film. If you can get over cliches, the occasional bad CGI, and a few unrealistic characters. However when there are so many better movies that are much more deserving of your time, this one doesn't stand out.
