The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is the story of a quiet, unassuming chap called – you guessed it – Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller). Walter finds his life so boring that he constantly ‘zones out’ and imagines himself having fantastical adventures or even just having the guts to say the things that the real him doesn’t. He works at Life magazine, which is in the process of producing its final issue. It’s in the midst of a takeover by an evil Murdochian corporation that plans to make it an online only venture, thereby making a large portion of the current staff redundant. Walter works with the negatives and photos used in the magazine and has been sent the ‘perfect picture’ – The Quintessence of Life to use for the final cover by legendary yet reclusive photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn). The only problem is that the picture is missing and Walter decides to try to track it down in order to impress the girl he is secretly in love with, Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). The journey takes him literally half way around the world.
Ben Stiller hurts my brain. As an actor, he has starred in some great films (Zoolander, Night At The Museum); some decent films (Tower Heist, Night At The Museum 2); some ‘really disappointing because they could have been better than they were’ films; (Tropic Thunder, The Watch); some incredibly bland films (Along Came Polly, Starsky & Hutch); and some films that people seem to love that I think are shit (There’s Something About Mary, Meet The Parents, Meet The Fockers, Meet The Little Fockers). He’s had a mixed bag as a director too with the aforementioned Zoolander & Tropic Thunder and also The Cable Guy, which to this day is one of the weirdest films I have ever seen.
Thankfully all that experience has merged to create a masterpiece. Ok masterpiece should probably be reserved for the likes of The Godfather, but still, it’s excellent. It’s definitely the biggest movie that Stiller has directed in terms of scale and – I’m assuming, budget – but he does a great job. And not just of the huge fantasy sequences either – although those are great but he does the little things brilliantly too. For example, you need only watch the opening scene of Walter balancing his chequebook for about four seconds and you get Walter. More so than you would with five minutes of boring ‘conversational’ exposition. There is as much beauty in its simplicity as there is in its stunning Icelandic panoramas.
The film doesn’t really fit into any genre either. It’s will make you laugh a couple of times but it’s not an out-and-out comedy. It has action and adventure but there’s not really any sense of danger. It is grounded with character and real world issues but it feels just a little to light to be a drama. There is romance but it’s certainly not a driving factor – it’s more of a secondary story. In the past when I have seen similarly undefinable films it’s often resulted in a pointless mess. Not here though. Stiller is triumphant – it’s a journey, in every sense of the word and as outrageous as some of its set-pieces are, it all feels honest and true to the characters. If you’re like me, you’ll have a big ol’ smile on your face for virtually the entire movie. Even the opening credits are innovative and entertaining, but not in a way that says “hey look what we can do” but more “sit back guy, this is gonna be fucking fun.”
The cast is all fab as well. Kristen Wiig (who seems to be anything at the moment) is at most her lovable, Sean Penn excels as the deep, pensive nature photographer, Adam Scott is perfect as the ‘dick’ boss and there is solid support from the likes of Jon Daly, Kathryn Hahn and Shirley MacLaine. It’s a stellar Stiller who steals the show though. His Mitty is understated and completely relatable, always giving us someone to root for (you can almost hear people saying “you can do it, Walter” in their head), but never someone to pity. And I think that is one of the reasons that the character, and I guess therefore the film, works so well. Walter isn’t a loser – he’s not desperately lonely or crazy poor or really fat and he doesn’t have behavioral problems or an awful home life – he’s just a guy. An everyman that is actually an everyman.
As I am sure you have deduced by now, I enjoyed this film. A. Lot. Incidentally, it has probably the best soundtrack since Pulp Fiction too. So I shall stop waxing-lyrical now and leave you with a quote from Penn’s character, O’Connel. One which seems apt, considering The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will no doubt be overlooked come awards season because it’s ‘not the right type of film.’
“Beautiful things don’t ask for our attention.” 9/10
The Film Zebra 