★★½
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| Get going on your adventure, Walter Mitty! |
“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” follows none other than Walter
Mitty (Ben Stiller). Walter works for Life Magazine as a photo processor. He’s
been there for 16 years and does his job well. He’s also a bit of a dreamer.
Every now and then, he’ll zone out and imagine some very far-fetched scenario
that features himself as the hero of the day. Most of his daydreams center on a
co-worker he’s never spoken with, Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). He’s
overheared that she’s joined eHarmony so Walter joins too, but his profile
isn’t compatible with hers which means he can’t “wink” at her. That’s a problem
best handled by eHarmony’s support line manned by Todd Maher (Patton Oswalt)
who wants to help Walter’s profile look more appealing.
Walter is also pretty close with his mom Edna (Shirley
MacLaine) and his sister Odessa (Kathryn Hahn). Edna’s moving into a new
apartment and Walter is assisting her with the move. She’s saved all sorts of
stuff from Walter’s past including a little travel journal his father gave him
shortly before he passed away. But Walter has never traveled, so it’s very
empty.
At work, Life Magazine is about to shut down and move to
online subscriptions only. This transition is being overseen by Ted Hendricks
(Adam Scott) who doesn’t really care for Walter or his frequent daydreams in
the middle of conversations. Walter receives a package from Sean O’Connell
(Sean Penn), a famous photographer who deals exclusively with Walter even
though they’ve never met in person. Sean tells him that one of the negatives is
the best picture he’s ever done and it should be the final cover of the
magazine. He even telegrams Ted and tells him the same thing. The only problem
is the negative is missing. Walter enlists the help of Cheryl to help track
Sean down. Using clues from the other negatives, they figure he’s in Greenland.
At Cheryl’s insistence, Walter just hops on a plane and goes out looking for
Sean and retrieve the negative for the final Life cover. Walter’s only ever
dreamed of adventure, but now he’s about to embark on one.
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| Blank stares are all Stiller's got for this character |
Ben Stiller proves he’s proficient in the technical aspects
of filmmaking with “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” There are many beautiful
moments in this film, but all the flash and glamour of the images on the screen
can’t make up for its lack of script. Written by Steve Conrad (“The Pursuit of
Happyness”), the film moves along at a much too leisurely pace. By the time
Walter leaves New York to go about his adventure, the film had already lost me.
The three-act structure is on full display here: before the
adventure, the adventure, after the adventure. But the first act isn’t supposed
to drag on for a seemingly endless amount of time, which is what happens here.
And the subplots meant to fill time until Walter leaves aren’t all that
interesting. I never really felt fully invested in these characters. They all
served their purposes in a typical Hollywood movie cliché kind of way. You want
Walter to end up with Cheryl because it’s established that she’s the object of
his affection. You want Walter to stand up to and eventually one-up Ted because
he’s a snarky, sarcastic antagonist. These are all overdone character clichés
in any movie and they’re easily identifiable here. But there’s nothing in the
script or the performances make us want to see things turn out well for Walter
in the end. The film tells us Walter is our guy, and by default we accept that.
Stiller disappoints in this mostly dramatic role. We’ve seen
him play the same character too many times in too many other movies, too often
with Owen Wilson. But Walter Mitty is not the type of character we’re used to
seeing from Stiller. It’s a dramatic role for once and a chance for Stiller to
show that side of his acting abilities. But he plays the role flat with little
emotion. His goofy little daydream sequences do nothing to enhance his
character, but rather remind us of the comedic roles that make up so much of
Stiller’s career. I really did want to connect with him, but he gives very
little to work with.
But where Stiller does succeed to a degree is behind the
camera. He may not have put too much time and attention into finding the right
performances for his cast – and especially himself – but “Walter Mitty” is a
technical achievement above all else. It’s beautifully shot by Stuart Dryburgh
(most famous for his photography for “The Piano”). The film takes place in
several different locations we don’t normally see in films (although Iceland is
becoming a favorite amongst the studios recently). The wide sweeping shots of
the Icelandic landscape and the Himalayas in Afghanistan (I don’t think they actually
filmed there) all look great, worthy of any kind of National Geographic
documentary. CGI is heavily used, but Stiller keeps a lid on it. He uses it
only to enhance the scene and the story, rather than drown us in an unnecessary
sea of special effects like so many other big budget films. He could have
easily done that here, but Stiller opted for a more realistic look. His use of
music is well done, and he’s on the same page with his long time film editor
Greg Hayden. This is a very technically sound production and it’s a joy to look
at on the screen.
But I never felt Stiller really took “The Secret Life of
Walter Mitty” to all the emotional levels it was capable of achieving. Yes it’s
pretty to look at, but there’s never a true connection to story or the
characters. This never allows a genuine connection to be made between audience
and film. I might be in the minority on this one considering the warm round of
applause the film received at my screening. If you’re expecting this wonderful
film about the triumph of the human emotion over adversity, this isn’t it but
it definitely had that potential.
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