The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

                
What happens when we let our imaginations get the better of us?  Everyone has had run-ins with a daydream that we let take over our entire thought process, whisking us away on adventures that normally we'd never embark on.  This is the theme of Ben Stiller's film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. 

                Stiller directs and stars in a film about Walter Mitty (Stiller), a photograph negatives manager at LIFE magazine, which is going through a transition from print to being solely online only.  In the last week of the magazine he is given the task of providing a photo which would be the cover of the final issue.  While reviewing the negatives from the roll of film, it is found that the photo to be used on the cover is in fact missing from the negatives.  Mitty takes it upon himself to track down the mystical photographer Sean O'Connell(Sean Penn) in an attempt to recover the missing photo to properly send of the magazine.  His search ends up taking him across the word to find O'Connell,

                The film goes back and forth between Mitty's real life, and the life of his fantasies which blend into his current situation, letting his imagination play out.  Normally the fantasies begin with something that is currently happening, then taking off into a completely unreal situation.  While at work Mitty has run ins with the new boss (Adam Scott), who is in the middle of brutishly downsizing the magazine, and singling out Mitty in much of his teasing.  In one scene Mitty and the new boss are in an elevator together, eventually they start getting into a fight which quickly transforms into a James Bond-esque brawl, then leads to an action scene pulled out of a superhero movie.  But as soon as the fantasy is over we are snapped back into reality, to see that Walter has simply spaced out in thought, letting time pass around him unseen.

                Visually this movie is stunning, every shot is like a photograph, which of course makes sense with the subject of the film being a quest for one photograph.  There is not a shot in the movie which seems out of place visually, they all fall into the same style.  During Walter's "regular" life, things are shot very flat and at precise angles, never straying too far from looking slightly mechanical.  But once he goes on his journey the camera opens up and starts breaking out of its previously level and flat shots.  This opening up works well with the film's progress, as Mitty goes on to break out of his dull existence working in the basement of a magazine, and into a journey across the globe.

                Generally the characters all feel real, Ben Stiller works well as the slightly-drab everyday man in a dying field, who's imagination allows him some escape from an otherwise unfulfilling life.  Along with Stiller is Kristen Wiig as Cheryl, a woman whom Mitty works with, whom is also his love interest.  Patton Oswalt who is an over-the-phone tech support with eHarmony who seems to be able to call Walter anywhere in the world, perhaps even in places where cell phone coverage wouldn't reach.  Sean Penn plays the mysterious and semi-mystical photographer whom Walter searches the world for; a man who doesn't seem to exist in the same universe as everyone else.

                The film does have a few flaws, namely when it comes to the fantasy sequences.  In the first half of the movie they feel too numerous, which makes sense story-wise but they slow the story down too much.  They are meant to give the viewer an idea of what is going through Walter's head, and his longing for something more out of life, but at times they just bring the movie to a halt.  There is one in particular that feels completely detached from the tone of the film, it being a direct parody of another film.  The film suffers for its inclusion.

                Overall, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a very nice film, it has a sympathetic protagonist whom you grow attached to throughout his journey.  The film has a very nice visual style which is pleasing to the eye, as well as some nice emotional moments.  If you want to see a competent, feel-good, and visually pretty film, I'd say check it out.