The parts of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty that most resemble James Thurber's 1939 short story are the parts I recommend skipping. In fact, show up 30 minutes late to miss most of them. My apologies to the late Mr. Thurber.
Of course, these comment have nothing to do with the author or his most famous work because the movie seems to barely acknowledge the story, which was about a man daydreaming fantastic scenarios around the mundane boredom that was his life. The movie, when it moves past the daydreams, is about a man desperately trying to squeeze meaning out of his life — real meaning, not figurative. It's not until the daydreams end that Walter Mitty begins to find his purpose, not within his own head but out in the wild. I find movies based on dreams to be vacant explorations of the imaginations. This one proves my point, until it doesn't.
The film is directed by Ben Stiller, an actor I've admittedly never much cared for in strong doses. He always takes his characters too far one direction and then gets lost in the muck. Remember Tropic Thunder, specifically how funny it was until Ben Stiller hijacked the later portions with his Colonel Kurtz routine and the Simple Jack overkill. Off a leash Stiller loses perspective. The same can be said here as his Walter Mitty, a Time-Life photo archivist, daydreams the boring out of his life by imagining himself in roles his own sense of adventure will never allow: a rugged and handsome mountain climber, an action hero, a ladykiller, kung-fu comic hero and, inexplicably, a reverse-aging Benjamin Button geriatric-baby. The scene, with Stiller hidden behind CGI and makeup, was so bad I hid behind my hands until it was over. The comic kung-fu sequence is nearly just as bad, with Stiller and Adam Scott, wearing what can only be described as a pubic-thick beard, pavement surfing through Manhattan as they karate chop each other's faces. If a single scene could derail a whole movie, then this movie gets derailed twice.
But it finds its footing later and recovers. Time-Life is being chopped up and sold as scrap, but not before one final issue hits news stands. Mitty, the photo archivist, accidentally loses the 35mm negative that is to be the cover. The photo is taken by photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), an old-school battle-hardened photojournalist. O'Connell is missing somewhere in Iceland, or Greenland, or Egypt, or China … no one really knows, but he's left some photo clues. Mitty decides to plunge into the deep dark mystery of life to find the missing cover shot. His trip takes him to some of those locations I mentioned earlier, including Iceland, where he meets the most interesting helicopter pilot with hands as big as grizzly bear paws. Before the pilot can take off, he must finish what must be about 120 ounces of beer in a giant glass boot. And then off Walter goes into the great beyond.
The movie has a some surreal, sometimes wacky, moments, including when he's nearly eaten by a shark, or when a volcano nearly swallows him whole. Most of these second-act scenes, though, are thrilling mini-adventures way outside Walter's comfort zone. Some of it is exhilarating, including a sequence with Walter longboarding on a lonely Iceland road. Amidst the world hopping he meets all kinds of people, including the helicopter pilot, a rental car agent who only has two cars to rent, a group of Sherpas, an eHarmony customer service representative and, eventually, Sean O'Connell who delivers that cover photo. And surprise: the photo is totally worth the wait.
A romance is figured in here, but not heavily. Kristen Wiig plays a Time-Life employee who admires Walter's passive simplicity. She features into one of the only decent daydreaming sequences: her character singing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" in the most strangely wonderful, and borderline metaphysical, scene in the film. It's a perfect song choice in a perfect moment of an otherwise so-so film. The song is about discover and wonder, and that's precisely what Walter Mitty is about to have engraved into his bones.
This is a completely lopsided movie. The beginning is just off, and in so many ways. And then the movie recovers and takes flight. It's a remarkable transformation, which is why I jokingly suggest you show up late. Another thing that should be brought up is the near constant product placement. Time-Life gets a pass, but not Papa Johns or American Airlines or even eHarmony, no matter how appropriate the Patton Oswalt cameo is.
As for Stiller, he didn't impress the hell out of me, but he did intrigue me enough to warrant curiosity for his next feature. I just hope that he continues to move away from the dopiness of his earlier career. Less Simple Jack; more second half of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
