Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a daydreamer with no social life, who works for “Life” magazine processing the photo negatives, including for the cover. When the all-important negative for the intended cover photo appears to have gone missing, Walter’s already threatened job is in even more danger from smug new boss Adam Scott (already suggesting that expendable employees will be let go mercilessly as they move to digital publication). So Walter tracks down the whereabouts of elusive photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) to Greenland, and sets about finding him, and get the photo. Kristen Wiig plays a co-worker whom Walter had just plucked up the courage to talk to prior to going on this voyage, which will take him to various parts of the globe. Kathryn Hahn and Shirley MacLaine play Walter’s sister and mother, respectively, whilst Patton Oswalt is an eHarmony employee who tries to get Walter to flesh out his profile, difficult given Walter has yet to do anything exciting or memorable. Perhaps now is his chance?

 

Director/star Ben Stiller (“The Cable Guy”, “Tropic Thunder”), aided by screenwriter Steve Conrad (“The Weather Man”, “The Pursuit of Spelling Happiness Correctly”) is trying for something a little loftier than his usual comedic films with this 2013 (loose) adaptation of the James Thurber short story. Previously made with Danny Kaye in the late 40s, the film is mostly a drama, and although interesting to see Stiller try to tackle more substantive material, it ends up just OK, bordering on good. Hell, I think “Tropic Thunder” ends up the more enjoyable and successful film, less ambitious or not.

 

The film looks absolutely stupendous, with crisp cinematography by Stuart Dryburgh (“Once Were Warriors”, “The Tempest”) and a visual design somewhere in between “Stranger Than Fiction” and the rather anti-septic “One Hour Photo”. The HQ of the magazine looks so sterile I’d be afraid to touch anything there for fear of leaving fingerprints. Stiller is ideal in the lead, playing a guy who works for “Life” magazine (which in reality, is long gone, by the way) but has no life himself, and until the main plot kicks in, it appears he has the most boring (yet quite vital) job at the organisation. There’s something really interesting with Walter’s unfulfilled life reaching its mid-point and finding himself on a big adventure for the first time in his life. It’s quite relatable.

 

The biggest and most pleasant surprise for me was actually Kristen Wiig. I’ve never liked her, find her comedic schtick more bizarre than funny, and when I heard she was Ben Stiller’s love interest in this I couldn’t believe it. Why would anyone want to date her? She has such tiny hands! Semi-obscure comedy references aside, she’s relatively attractive here, quite normal and genuinely likeable. For the first time ever, she’s actually appealing and relatable.

 

I must say, though, that although the central idea and themes are relatable, the intrusion of fantasy sequences felt inorganic and unnecessary. It pulled me out of the film, though the “Benjamin Button” bit was very funny, and very Ben Stiller. Otherwise, they don’t work and they aren’t necessary. All the little slogans and quotes throughout felt pretentious too, like a lesser “L.A. Story”. But as far as I’m concerned, any film that features the line ‘Stay gold, Pony-Boy’ has to be alright in my book. The film’s an odd duck, full of all these film references, supposedly profound words, and odd fantasies, with some working better than others. I’m not sure any of it was really necessary, but it’s certainly something. I must confess to being a little over Kathryn Hahn by now, she always seems the same, and is a bit irritating here. Adam Scott, meanwhile, sports an unconvincing beard and makes douchy jerkdom seem bland and uninteresting, somehow. Awful waste of Shirley MacLaine too, in a nothing part. However, Sean Penn’s first appearance leads to the film’s biggest laugh when Stiller realises where the missing negative is. Oops. Patton Oswalt, meanwhile, single-handedly makes eHarmony a whole lot creepier, in a small but amusing turn.

 

It’s not quite as successful or as profound as it seems to think it is, nor is it as good as the slightly similar “L.A. Story”, which was brilliant (It’s a bit better than “Joe vs. The Volcano”, however, another film it reminds me of). Yet it’s not remotely boring, and Stiller is excellent in the title role. It’s certainly not a film I expected from Stiller, that’s for sure and one of the best-looking films of 2013. Definitely worth a look, even if it doesn’t quite soar like it clearly wants to. Or perhaps for you it will. I have a feeling this one will speak to a lot of people, if not quite me.

 

Rating: B-