Review Tuesday: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

I don't get too many opportunities to see sneak previews of movies, so when I get an invitation I will jump on it so that I may share the experience with my beloved readers. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was a short story written by James Thurber in 1939, originally published in The New Yorker. In 1947 it was made into a film with the same title starring Danny Kaye. Since Hollywood is desperately short on new ideas we get it again in 2013 starring Ben Stiller.

First the book:

A henpecked husband imagines the life he wishes he could be living.

This story is just over two thousand words, so it is a VERY short story that was printed in the New Yorker in the late 30s. Even a slow reader like me can knock it out very quickly. It's clever and sad. Walter Mitty is a man being pushed around by everyone in his unfulfilling life. His only outlet is his imagination. He dreams up all sorts of fantastical adventures, which are the furthest things from what he is actually doing. It, largely,  reflects upon the romantic notions of adventure and daring of life on the front lines of the Second World War. 

And now, the movie:

A very ordinary, mild-mannered photo negative manager at LIFE magazine is forced to embark on the adventure of a lifetime that he has always dreamed of.

Honestly, Ben Stiller is never my first choice of a lead man in anything. He's so odd looking that I just can't imagine spending 114 minutes of this movie looking at his mug. But I have also learned that he's funny and charming and has a great presence on the screen, so I can't put him on the "no view" list.  

Life Magazine is closing up it's print edition and moving on to only an online presence. They have two weeks to wrap things up and go to print with the cover that star photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) has provided. There's only one problem, the negative is missing, so Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) has to track the man down. We're introduced to Walter's fertile imagination right away as he's living a dull and lonely existence. We get to follow Walter's life as he pursues the negative, and love in life with Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig) and a more meaningful existence. 

This is your end of the year feel-good-romatic-comedy with hopes for Oscar interest. I would say that everyone does a good job, especially Stiller in the director's seat. I believe it was a shrewd move to cast Sean Penn as the wise and introspective photographer, as Hollywood and reviewers eat up everything he does. Cleverly written, some fun twists and turns and that feel-good ending you would expect. I liked the movie and call it worthwhile to watch.

You can read the short story HERE

More on: IMDB / WIKI