Sweet, funny, touching...everything I wanted it to be...almost.

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2014)

In my younger years when I was a veracious reader I stumbled upon The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and absolutely loved it. I have never seen the original film (though I plan to soon) and I wasn't too concerned whether or not this film would follow the story closely (which it doesn't.) Anyone looking for an adaptation of the original short story...just cancel it right out of your mind because this isn't it. This is more of a remake of the original film that holds some of the character, morals and ideas of the short story. From the moment I saw the trailer I was excited. I saw this as potentially another Forrest Gump (one of the greatest films ever made in my book.) In many ways it absolutely has some of that great style and feel that made Forrest Gump great and that is a huge compliment. My expectations for this were quite high and I left the theatre not disappointed at all. It was absolutely a feel good film that had many things to ponder about life and risk. It was definitely a comedy with some decent laughs but had a lot of heart as well. Was it perfect? No. It starts out a little slow and some of the imagination scenes felt just a little bit forced but one thing is for certain the stunning, jaw dropping scenery and cinematography in this film is a ten easy. Its simply beautiful to watch.
Ben Stiller takes double duty as director and star and bravo to him on both counts. I like Stiller but especially when he does stuff like this and leaves the stupid Zoolander type characters and comedy at home. This was the perfect role for him as the assuming, quiet Walter Mitty who opens himself up to the world for the first time. He is terrific on screen and he outdoes himself as director so kudos to him. Kristen Wiig is good if not just a little understated as the object of Mitty's affections. However, this is a great role for her compared to the stupid SNL type comedy she's done in recent years. She is actually a very good serious actor and her and Stiller have great chemistry. Her character is just a little bit underdeveloped and doesn't get enough scenes to truly shine but she does well. Sean Penn (someone I have a love hate relationship with because he often picks incredible movies but I find him pompous and irritating) has a small appropriate and well done role as photographer and adventurer Sean O'Connell. He is actually the perfect fit for the mostly mysterious role and is quite good in it. Probably one of the best roles he's had in some time. The supporting cast are all good...though no one is really great. Shirley Maclaine should have been better and perhaps worked into the story more as Mitty's Mom and Adam Scott was perfectly pompous and evil as Mitty's new boss and they had great chemistry against each other.
Despite the story's minor short comings it is a beautiful film and one for nearly everyone. I can't tell you enough how stunning the scenery is from Greenland to Iceland and even the streets of New York City are just perfectly used and each scene has something to look at from the dark shadows of Mitty's office to the towers Afghan mountains. When I see this again on video (which I certainly will!) I have a feeling it will lose just a little something not seeing it on the big screen because there is a distinctive jaw dropping quality about some of the scenes (him skateboarding through the countryside, the mountain climbing and so much more.) I actually found the imagination scenes almost too distracting but it was necessary to demonstrate Mitty's desire to escape. This didn't really have to be Walter Mitty...they could have made it a whole new concept but that's hindsight now and it is what it is. The film is actually a lot funnier than what I expected but they don't let the comedy interfere with the true heart behind this story. An absolutely worthy entertaining film that you should see!! 8.5/10