On The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A script that has been in development for years The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was saved by Ben Stiller who directs and stars and does an excellent job at both. With CGI it’s now easy to capture the day dreaming’s of a man who falls between hopeless romantic and hopeless. What is far harder is to capture the sense of loss and recognition that these day dreams are both a problem for Walter, yet at the same time the solution and Stiller achieves this through his subtle performance and direction.

Early on in the film the premise of a missing negative that captures the ‘quintessence of life’ and should be the final cover of Life Magazine is set up. Walter’s search for this negative is the film and that the revealing of this photo does not disappoint is one of the more impressing features of this story. As well as one of the more satisfying endings in comedy, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty manages to be almost universally engaging through its live your dream, take a chance mantra. These are platitudes, but the film comes across as charming not preachy. At the same time it manages to make an interesting point about the digital age and the lack of real world experiences that come with it.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty feels like it came from an earlier time of cinema comedy, but looks like it was made today. It’s a nice mix and a funny and charming piece of cinema.