Ben Stiller’s The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty, based on the James Thurber short story of the
same name is certainly a more serious affair than most of Stiller’s back
catalogue of work. In it, Stiller directs and stars in a film about a mild mannered
man imagining (and then doing) some amazing and adventurous deeds. As Mitty,
Stiller plays an emotionally withheld introvert whose only real escape is in
his episodes of drifting into imaginary sequences. There he seems to become the
hero in his own journey; as opposed to a cog in the machine in his work at Life
magazine, or as the demure son and brother he is within his own family unit.
On the whole the story can be summed as such: an introvert
is forced to go on an adventure and becomes a stronger all round person for it.
There’s nothing in particular that’s special about this story. The characters
are standard yet acceptable: at times displaying a real charm, but without a
much needed grounded panache. It’s not as if the story is even badly told, it’s
just not very original. The cast all deliver strong performances, the film is
shot well and it’s nicely directed (with a really nice soundtrack to boot), but
what else is there to it? I felt as if the film longed to leave something deeper
and more impactful in its audience, and yet the film never quite achieved that.
Overall this isn’t a bad film. It has style and a fair
amount of charm to it. But beyond these surface details it lacked an interconnectivity
that would’ve left a real impact with its audience. In this film Stiller seems
to have attempted to show a pure, heart-warming story of a man struggling in
the modern world. And what he’s created has done that to some extent. You can
see what the film might be going for but it never really reaches the point you
thought it might have achieved. It’s worth a watch, but keep an open mind, you
may love it or you may hate it. I on the other hand, thought it was just ok.
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