Oscarology: Volume 5 - Predictions for the 86th Annual Academy Awards

Welcome to Oscarology, the study of the Hollywood awards season culminating with the presentation of the Academy Awards in March 2014. I am Trevor Kirkendall, your resident Oscarologist. I’ve been studying the tendencies of the Oscars since 1993 and have since earned my PhD in this study. The following series of articles will cover the landscape of the upcoming awards season from now until the nominations are announced on January 16, 2014.

The nominations for the 86th Annual Academy Awards will be announced tomorrow morning at around 8:30am EST. When the nominations are unveiled, I believe the list will look something like this. Remember, the Best Picture category will contain at least five nominee but no more than 10. Therefore, the first five films listed are the guaranteed nominations. The next five are listed in order of confidence. Also note that the Visual Effects category and the Original Song category may or may not contain five nominees each. It's possible fewer than five will be nominated, but I've listed five on each. I have also not made any predictions on the three short film categories (Animated Short, Documentary Short and Live Action Short).

Best Picture of the Year
12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Gravity
The Wolf of Wall Street
6. Her
7. Nebraska
8. Saving Mr. Banks
9. Dallas Buyers Club
10. Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Director
12 Years a Slave - Steve McQueen
American Hustle - David O. Russell
Captain Phillips - Paul Greengrass
Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón
The Wolf of Wall Street - Martin Scorsese

Best Actor
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford - All is Lost

Best Actress
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Meryl Streep - August: Osage County
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl - Rush
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey - Lee Daniels' The Butler

Best Adapted Screenplay
12 Years a Slave - John Ridley
Before Midnight - Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke
Captain Phillips - Billy Ray
Philomena - Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope
The Wolf of Wall Street - Terence Winter

Best Original Screenplay
American Hustle - Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell
Blue Jasmine - Woody Allen
Dallas Buyers Club - Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack
Her - Spike Jonze
Nebraska - Bob Nelson

Best Animated Feature
Despicable Me 2 - Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud
Ernest & Celestine - Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar, Benjamin Renner
Frozen - Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Monsters University - Dan Scanlon
The Wind Rises - Hayao Miyazaki

Best Documentary Feature
20 Feet from Stardom - Morgan Neville
The Act of Killing - Christine Cynn, Joshua Oppenheimer
The Armstrong Lie - Alex Gibney
Blackfish - Gabriela Cowperthwaite
Stories We Tell - Sarah Polley

Best Foreign Language Film
The Broken Circle Breakdown - Belgium
The Great Beauty - Italy
The Hunt - Denmark
The Missing Picture - Germany
Two Lives - Cambodia

Best Cinematography
12 Years a Slave - Sean Bobbitt
American Hustle - Linus Sandgren
Gravity - Emmanuel Lubezki
Inside Llewyn Davis - Bruno Delbonnel
Nebraska - Phedon Papamichael

Best Costume Design
12 Years a Slave - Patricia Norris
American Hustle - Michael Wilkinson
Dallas Buyers Club - Kurt & Bart
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin
Saving Mr. Banks - Daniel Orlandi

Best Film Editing
12 Years a Slave - Joe Walker
American Hustle - Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassiby, Crispin Struthers
Captain Phillips - Christopher Rouse
Gravity - Alfonso Cuarón, Mark Sanger
The Wolf of Wall Street - Thelma Schoonmaker

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
American Hustle
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
The Lone Ranger

Best Production Design
12 Years a Slave - Adam Stockhausen
American Hustle - Judy Becker
Gravity - Andy Nicholson
The Great Gatsby - Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy
Saving Mr. Banks - Michael Corenblith

Best Original Score
12 Years a Slave - Hans Zimmer
All is Lost - Alex Ebert
The Book Thief - John Williams
Gravity - Steven Price
Saving Mr. Banks - Thomas Newman

Best Original Song
Despicable Me 2 - "Happy" by Pharrell Williams
Frozen - "Let it Go" by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez
The Great Gatsby - "Young and Beautiful" by Lana Del Rey
Her - "The Moon Song" by Karen O
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom - "Ordinary Love" by U2

Best Sound Editing
12 Years a Slave
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Rush

Best Sound Mixing
12 Years a Slave
All is Lost
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Inside Llewyn Davis

Best Visual Effects
Elysium
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Pacific Rim
World War Z

Review: Lone Survivor

by Joe Moss
★★★

Explosive. Emotional. Unnerving. Even though the war efforts in the Middle East and Afghanistan have now been stretching upwards of 13 years, most people cannot turn away from a great action movie based in reality. Peter Berg's latest film, "Lone Survivor", is a harrowing snapshot of a three day mission gone awry. This mission centers around one Navy SEAL team sent to extract a Taliban leader, Shah, from the depths of the mountains in Northern Afghanistan.

Marcus Lutrell (Mark Walhberg) is part of an elite Navy SEAL team that is based out of Bagram Air Base. His 'band of brothers' includes Micheal Murphy (Taylor Kitsch), Danny Dietz (Emile Hirsch) and Matt "Axe" Axelson (Ben Foster)--all lead by the dynamic Commander Kristensen (Eric Bana).The playful camaraderie from this group is evident from the onset of the film as Danny and Mike wake early to have a race through the Air Base simply for bragging rights...and to see who's head will be shaved.

The team is activated for Operation Redwing earlier than expected, when Commander Kristensen receives intel pointing toward a desired Taliban leader in the region--one who is responsible for the recent death of 20 Marines. The guys are pre-oped in the early morning hours, and dropped in a remote location 4 hours from "Schlitz Malt Liquor"--aka the reconnaissance point nearest the insurgent. Once the team arrives at the final waypoint, communications with the command post are lost due to the rough terrain. As the SEALs lay low waiting for night to fall, a heard of goats and their herders stumbles across the team, and the quiet "grab op" turns into the proverbial 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral.'

Based on the best-selling book of the same name by the 'lone survivor' himself, Marcus Luttrell, the screenplay is a perfect adaptation of the book. Luttrell worked with Peter Berg (who wrote the screenplay as well as directed the film) to ensure that the film was as accurate as possible to honor the memory of his fallen brothers--to whom the film is dedicated. The screenplay is filled with such a wide range of emotions that is it impossible for the audience not to feel every bullet, every detonation, and every ounce of blood lost. Even though everyone knows what is to happen (the the title alludes), you will easily finding yourself rooting for the underdogs in the battle.

Mark Wahlberg does not disappoint as the lead character of the film. His cool demeanor and level-headedness play off of the brashness of Ben Foster's portrayal of Axe. It is obvious that Mike and Marcus have a deep connection and understanding of how the other thinks during times of high stress operations, and Mark Wahlberg and Taylor Kitsch have the same on-screen chemistry. They maintain and follow the military code of conduct expected of all domestic militia. As they film progresses, each of the team members strengths are shown; as well, each of their memories are honored.

The cinematography by Tobias Schliessler ("Battleship", "Dreamgirls") is absolutely fantastic. Even through the numerous battle sequences, the audience is able to appreciate the beauty of the local countryside--a nice reminder of WHY the war on terror continues. A reminder WHY these brave soldiers continue to risk their lives. Democracy and conservation of the freedoms that we take for granted. As well, the sound technicians and the sound mixing departments we phenomenal. This allowed the editing of the film by Colby Parker ("Battleship", "The Kingdom") to perform his job flawlessly.

A great film that reminds all of us to thank our Military for the hard work they perform for often low compensation. Go see "Lone Survivor" if you wish to be transported to the same frame of mind as was seen in other outstanding Hollywood productions of late--"The Hurt Locker", "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Jarhead."

Review: Her

by Trevor Kirkendall
★★★★

As a society, we’ve become completely dependent on technology to keep us connected to the world. Some would even suggest that we’ve become too dependent on it to the point that we’re missing out on life and everything that comes with it. Reading social networking sites when we should be enjoying the company of others around us. Taking pictures of things we’ll never look at again rather than just enjoying the moment as it happens. We all know we do it, and we all continue to do it. If it’s not socially acceptable at this moment in time, it will probably become that way one day. And every year, we’re given new enhancements to technology that could catch up to our level of intelligence at some point. This is what Spike Jonze looks at in his latest film “Her”.

“Her” is set sometime in the future when technology has completely taken over our daily lives. Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a slightly introverted man who works for a company that writes beautiful handwritten letters for people who can’t put their own expressions and emotions into words. He’s separated from his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara) but has not signed the divorce papers yet. It’s not a divorce he really wants either; it’s more her idea.

He’s not a total introvert, however. He has decent people skills, just not very good at handling relationships. He’s got a great friend at his work, receptionist Paul (Chris Pratt). His oldest friend is Amy (Amy Adams) who he sees quite often. She’s married to Charles (Matt Letscher) and all three get along well. That’s about it for everyone in this futuristic world. Everyone has become so dependent on technology that no one communicates face-to-face with people when they’re out in public. If you think it’s bad now, the vision that’s displayed here is almost unthinkable. People talk to themselves while they walk around during the day, but what they’re talking to is a much more polished version of Siri.

That is until one tech company comes out with a piece of software called OS One. This operating system uses artificial intelligence that’s so powerful and intuitive, it will almost seem like you’re talking with another human being. Theodore decides to try it out, not because he’s lonely and needs a new friend, but because he’s curious. The computer creates a female voice for him that calls itself Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). She’s smart, funny and has a very sensuous and fun loving voice. She learns all she can about Theodore from the contents of his computer and just listening to everything he says. Eventually, Theodore begins to develop feelings for her. Samantha even develops artificial emotions for him as well, and the two seemingly begin to fall in love with one another.

“Her” is definitely a unique take on the romance drama genre. Why would anyone expect anything less than unique given director Spike Jonze’s involvement? The man has built his enormously successful career on making things different than anyone else. “Being John Malkovich” was one of the most memorable films of the 1990s. Its follow up “Adaptation” was just as great. And who could ever forget Christopher Walken dancing around the lobby of the formerly known Marriott Hotel in the music video for Fatboy Slim’s “Weapon of Choice”? Yes, Spike Jonze has done many memorable and unique works in his career, but “Her” is his masterpiece.

This is one of the most polished and perfectly crafted screenplays of the year. Even with the little bizarre antics and strange scenes that occur throughout the movie, this film is a full on romance story. It shouldn’t matter that one doesn’t really exist in a human form. The voice on the other end is very real and the emotional bond that’s formed is genuine. Jonze has crafted one of the most real film relationships of the year with “Her” and you only ever see one person in that relationship.

Furthermore, the social subtext he explores is worth noting. We can walk around any public venue these days and constantly watch people walk around with their heads down staring into the screen of their smartphones. We can sit at a restaurant and watch a group of friends hang out or a couple on a date. What are they doing? Heads down, phones out. This is becoming prevalent in the highly connected society in which we live. Jonze explores the idea of this turning into a social norm at some point in the not-so-distant future. He doesn’t render judgment on whether or not this is acceptable; he’s just there to show you the vision he sees taking place.

Jonze’s vision includes people communicating to their smartphone devices via a Bluetooth-like ear piece. They communicate with a much more polished and much more helpful version of Siri. Theodore walks through the city listening to his emails. “Next. Next. Reply later,” he says. He stands on the subway as his phone reads the day’s news headlines. “Next. Next,” he continues until he hears one they piques his interest. And he’s not the only one. Everyone else is doing the exact same thing. No one is capable of having a human interaction in public.

Joaquin Phoenix is sensational in this role. He is one of the best actors working today and receives very little recognition (thanks to his little actor-turned-bearded-rapper gag a few years ago). Once again, he completely embodies this role and truly losses himself in it. He’s fascinating to watch. And since almost all of us have been in a relationship at one point or another, the stages are easily identifiable and relatable (even if you never dated your computer, which some of you reading this review probably do and don’t realize it).

But the most fascinating performance in this film comes from Scarlett Johansson. She was a late addition to this film and didn’t take part in any of the actual filming. Her role is never delivered in physical form, only in voice. Using only her voice, she is able to convey so much emotion and give this character a vast amount of depth that it’s easy to forget she’s never physically with Phoenix in this film. Even though you never see her, she delivers one of the finest performances of the year.

“Her” is nothing short of a masterpiece. It’s a creative gem delivered from one of the most visionary thinkers in Hollywood. Jonze delivers this film to us with a powerful story full of emotional depth, and is able to make an entertaining futuristic science-fiction film without hitting the overkill button on the visual effects. This is about as solid as filmmaking gets from all aspects. It’s films like this that should serve as a reminder to what movies used to be before technology killed the human interactions between the story and the audience.

Review: August: Osage County

by. Joe Moss
★★★½

Gritty, powerful, heartfelt, dysfunctional, otherwise known as a trip through most family gatherings. John Wells' "August: Osage County--" based off of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winning play of the same name, by Tracy Letts--is sure to pack a punch with most audience members who are not afraid to stare transfixedly into the dark realities that hide behind most homestead walls. Working through their short-comings, their past indiscretions, and many family secrets, the Weston family must decide how to move forward as a group, and as individuals.

Beverly "Bev" Weston (Sam Shepard) was once a truly famous award winning poet. He and his wife, Violet (Meryl Streep) placed roots in Osage County Oklahoma when Bev accepted his final teaching position at a local university. As the film opens, Bev is interviewing Johnna (Misty Upham) as a housekeeper/assistant to help take care of Violet who he says has mouth cancer. We find out that Violet has a widespread prescription drug addiction as a counterbalance to his alcoholism.

Suddenly, we are thrust forward a few days, and discover through a phone conversation between the Weston's middle daughter, Ivy (Julianne Nicholson) and the oldest daughter, Barbara (Julia Roberts) that Bev has gone missing. To aid Violet, who is severely distraught in her drug-induced dementia, Barbara decides to make the trip home. She brings with her, Bill Fordham (her estranged husband played by Ewan McGregor) and her daughter, Jean (Abigail Breslin). They meet Ivy, Violet's sister Matty Fae (Margo Martindale) and brother-in-law, Charlie (Chris Cooper) at the Weston homestead. Within minutes of arriving, the family is shocked by another knock at the door.  It's the Sheriff who bears the news that Bev has been found, and the body must be identified.

With the arrival of the remaining Weston daughter, Karen (Juliette Lewis) and her beau, Steve Huberbrecht (Dermot Mulroney), all HELL breaks loose in the household as the dirty laundry of all is finally aired out to dry.

My hats of to the producers of the film for allowing Tracy Letts to re-write and translate her play into the actual movie script. It is obvious that she took the time to do her award-winning play justice. Of course the personification provided by the cast is amazing. Meryl Streep is at her best in this movie as she channels the insanity of Elizabeth Taylor's title character from "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" (1966). She steals every scene with biting sarcasm followed by inhaling cigarettes--mind the mouth cancer now!!

Julia Roberts is a mirror image of Meryl Streep's character. As her oldest daughter, Barbara had to put up with Violet's tantrums the most...and this is how Julia plays the role. As s woman on the edge who takes no prisoners. Of course, she learned that from her mother--minus the extreme drug addiction. Julia's ability to hold screen time with Meryl (and even one-up her on occasion) speak volumes for her ability as an actress. They were both perfectly cast in their roles by Kerry Barden ("Good Will Hunting") and Paul Schnee ("Prisoners", 2013).

While the other supporting characters generally perform well, and serve their purpose toward plot development within the film, Juliette Lewis is one who stands out--but in a bad way. Her characterization as Karen falls flat. It just seems as more of Juliette Lewis' classic airhead characters. She doesn't seem to add anything to the plot of the film other than bringing her fiance, Steve, to the fray. His character is slimy and is played perfectly by Dermot Mulroney. Additonally, Benedict Cumberbatch's character, Little Charles, is forgettable. This is probably a good thing as he is only present in the film for about 10 minutes.

I heartily enjoyed this movie and fully recommend to anyone who enjoys the occasional glance into the dysfunctional goings-on of another household.

Review: Inside Llewyn Davis

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★★½

The latest from Joel and Ethan Coen is “Inside Llewyn Davis”, a look at the folk music scene in New York City in 1961, right before a certain young man began singing about how the answers, my friend, are blowin’ in the wind. The Coens film is a visually striking film, complete with memorable songs from industry legend T Bone Burnett and Mumford and Sons frontman Marcus Mumford. It also showcases the Brothers on the top of their game.

Llewyn Davis (Oscar Isaac) is a folk singer. He called Greenwich Village his home, even though he just lives on other people’s couches on a rotating basis. And if you ask his friend Jean (Carey Mulligan), Llewyn Davis is an asshole. That’s because she’s pregnant and it might be his. Of course, it might be Jim’s (Justin Timberlake), her boyfriend and musical collaborator (they’re a singing duo themselves, and quite popular). She wants Jim’s baby but not Llewyn’s. So she needs to terminate it just in case it isn’t Llewyn’s. Which is why he’s an asshole.

Llewyn’s songs are good. He has representation with a very small manager, Mel (Jerry Grayson), but doesn’t earn enough money from him. Llewyn was in a folk duo earlier in his career, but his counterpart committed suicide, leaving Llewyn alone to continue on as a solo artist. Llewyn has asked Mel to send his new solo record to a manager in Chicago named Bud Grossman (F. Murray Abraham) who also runs his own club. He’s sure Bud will love his music and agree to manage him. He’s already set up Jim and Jean’s dorky friend Troy Nelson (Stark Sands) so how could he not like Llewyn?

After a recording session for an awful yet insanely catchy song that Jim wrote with Al Cody (Adam Driver), Llewyn decides to forgo the royalties and just take a lump sum check for the session right now. He ends up using the money to help pay for gas to ride along with one of Al’s friends, jazz musician Roland Turner (John Goodman) and his valet Johnny Five (Garrett Hedlund) to Chicago. There, he hopes to catch the attention of Bud Grossman and become the biggest thing in folk music.

This is vintage Coen Brothers material, from the story to its structure to the well-crafted handling of the filmmaking itself. And it’s as close to a musical as we’ve seen from them, so of course the music is phenomenal as well. The Brothers have made a career making films about gritty people that don’t just despise one another, but they hate themselves too. Llewyn Davis is this kind of character. “Inside Llewyn Davis” closely remebles the tone of their earlier film “A Serious Man”. One centralized character that isn’t very likeable. You would think that formula would make for a chaotic film, and left to any other filmmaker, it probably would be. But the Coen Brothers are right at home with this type of subject.

Are you supposed to love him or hate him? The Brothers don’t really give us anything to love about him, except maybe his music. He’s rude to just about everyone he meets. He doesn’t really care about the feelings of Jean, who he may or may not have put in a troubling situation. Although he feels she’s partially to blame, but who says that in this situation? According to Jean, an asshole would. Which is what Llewyn is.

The Brothers take another snapshot of life with this story. Only this time, they focus entirely on one individual. Isaac is on screen for every scene of this film, and he’s only missing from a select few frames. He performs all the music as well. Isaac succeeds in brilliant fashion by playing a character no one likes, yet is still trying to gain some of your emotion in process. There are a few moments when I found myself empathizing with him only to be slapped back into reality by a brash comment in the following scene.

The rest of the cast is filled out with people who attempt to balance out Llewyn, but to little success. Mulligan is fantastic in her role as Jean, a woman with a sweet folky singing voice and a smile to make men’s hearts melt when she’s on stage singing. Off state, she’s an angry woman cursing like a sailor whenever she’s around Llewyn. Timberlake as Jim is also wonderful in the role (which is becoming somewhat of a consistent critique of Timberlake; the man can act). He’s nice and loveable like Jean is on stage, but off stage he carries the same mannerisms. He’s hopefully and optimistic about life in general, something not usually seen in characters from films about 1960s America.

Some of the best moments in the film come during Llewyn’s drive from New York to Chicago with Goodman and Hedlund. Goodman is a Coen staple appearing in well over a handful of their films. He’s just as loud and boisterous as ever. It’s almost as if the Coens write these roles specifically for him (which they probably do). He’s as memorable as his previous Coen characters like Gale Snoats, Charlie Meadows, Walter Sobchak and Big Dan Teague. Only this time, he clocks very little screen time. I wish he would have had a larger presence in this film, but it’s not his movie. This is all about Llewyn and how he interacts with the people who enter in and out of his life. Roland Turner is just another blip on the overall life of Llewyn Davis.

“Inside Llewyn Davis” might not be the Coen Brothers masterpiece, but it is certainly a fascinating looks at the folk music scene of the early 1960s and the people involved in it right before it became a hugely popular genre of music. To me, the story is meant to be a reflective look on everyone in the audience to see how you may or may stack up next to the ambitions of Llewyn Davis.

He’s not a nice guy, but he’s got a dream. He wants to make that dream come true. He’ll use people, abuse people and step on anyone who gets in his way. Every one of us has a dream. Llewyn’s just chasing after his. What’s so wrong with that? The issue is not what your dream is, but how you go about attaining it. Many people get to where they’re going without being rude. Llewyn doesn’t understand that. In the end, he gets exactly what he deserves: an actual and at the same time metaphorical kick in the gut. This is the appropriate and perfect ending for Llewyn, and the Coens give it to him in a very smart way.

Review: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

by Trevor Kirkendall

★★½

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.

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.