I'll start off by saying I'm not much of a Ben Stiller fan. Like most of the comics that are so popular out there like Jim Carrey, Will Ferrell and Adam Sandler, I hate their comedy and love their drama roles. So I was hopeful for this one when I was finally able to get out to see it today.
Yes, I saw the original version with Danny Kaye and liked it, but this version is more like saying you like Apple Pie but this one is Chocolate Creme. They are both pie, both good and both the same and very different at the same time. And I have to say I love this one more.
In this version Walter works for LIFE Magazine which is coming to the end of it's paper magazine run and going all digital. He's been working there for 16 years and is the only contact to their prime outdoor photographer (played in a great cameo by Sean Penn), Sean O'Connell. Sean has sent in a roll of film which has the final cover photo film frame for the magazine. Only, it's not there. Not in the can, not on the roll, not in the envelope. Not there. Walter panics since, if he has any hope of staying on with the company through the transitioning period, he must deliver this final negative for the final cover. Having lived a very safe life up to this point, Walter is forced out of his comfort zone and into panic mode zone where you will do anything to get the job done. He feels a loyalty to this photographer as well as to his magazine. The new girl at the magazine (played by Kristin Wig), Cheryl, whom Walter already adores from afar, encourages him to try to track Sean down and see if he has the negative. Walter takes her advice, knowing he has a very short time to get the negative, and it's an adventure from there.
Like the original, while living the "safe" life, Walter often takes leaps of fantasy and "zones out" as his fantasy life allows him to do things he would never dream of doing. This is a problem when the new transition manager comes into the picture. Adam Scott plays the jerk so well that you begin to wonder if that's who he is in real life because he has the role down! The manager uses Walter's zoning out as a weapon against him but it works for his love live with Cheryl. In this version the fantasy life is just an example of how he checks out of life and doesn't really see even what is in his immediate world. Not quite the scene stealer it was in the original.
Fairly quickly Walter is dashing all over the world in search of the photographer and this missing negative. When trip after trip fails his own life at home in New York kicks up a notch. He connects more with him mom (Shirley MacLaine, wonderful as always) and sister (Kathryn Hahn) as well as with Cheryl and her son, Rich. As his work life is going downhill and his search for this photographer gets harder he starts to really experience life and the people in it and stops fantasizing instead. It is a wonderful blossoming.
When he, at last, does catch up to Sean you are treated to one of the best scenes in the movie. It is here that you really start to feel the heart of the film. Puzzle pieces come together for Walter and transforms him to the point where he finally "gets" it. Life.
As a photographer this was a beautiful film to see (and maybe why I was so taken by it). As a movie watcher there are tons of holes that you have to overlook in this film. But it was the heart of the film that made me like it and, by the end of the film, love it. When Walter is forced to see the beauty of the world outside of his cubicle, so are we. When he is forced to see that your heart encompasses a lot more than you think it does, then so are we. It's sweet, tender and funny. There is a side story with Patton Oswald that leads you to one of the funniest lines in the movie. I won't spoil it for you. But it is this side story that helps Walter see where he's going as well as ties into the bigger picture in the end. If I were to look at the holes too closely this film would get a 7. Because of the beauty and heart it gets and 8.5. Great movie, no. It misses the mark by this much. But a very good movie that I will own and I will watch again and again.
Barbara Says:
Watched ``The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty''' not long after it came out by myself. I went just to have something to do really. Because I had been taking my breaks for lunch in the theater showing it and had not been real impressed. For those who do not know me, I work in a movie theater. First, let me say I am not a fan of Ben Stiller. Now for what I did like. The scenery was beautiful all the way through the film. I enjoyed seeing Shirley MacLaine ply her craft again as Walter`s mother. It was interesting for me just to see all of those countries on the big screen. The story line is not anything special except for the wallet he is sent by a famous photographer to thank him for doing right by his photo`s over the time he has been with LIFE. This magazine is now closing down and this will be the photographer`s last photo. He tells Walter it is very, very important that it be on the front page of the last issue. Walter cannot find it..anywhere. So he tries to find the photographer instead because he thinks it was left out of the envelope.
If the story had been on that theme alone I would have liked it better. Did not care for the trips off into stupid day dreaming scenes. But this movie will appeal to a lot of people and as I said before, beautiful countries to look at no matter what. The ending I was pleased with and so will you be when you see what the important photo showed. Best part of the story line to me. I give this a 10 out of 10 for the wonderful scenery. I give it a 6.5 for story line and an 8 for the ending. So I am all over the board on this one. Make up your own mind here by seeing it for yourself. If nothing else, you get to travel.
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