Very good, Updated, different version from Danny Kaye classic

Rating: 7/10 (2 January 2014)

A very good attempt by Ben Stiller that hits the right marks on most occasions. I'm not a big Stiller fan but he performed admirably here. He provided depth & likability to the classic day dreamer Walter Mitty. This version was more heartwarming, a little more adventurous & slightly less funny than the 1947 movie with the same title. However, there were enough chuckles. I despise Sean Penn & pretty much all he stands for, including the vast majority of his movies but even I could tolerate his short role in this one. His character had a major impact throughout the film & while he was much more subdued when we finally get to meet him, Penn pulled it off. You understand why he does what he does. Being a fan of the original, this version could have used 1, maybe 2 more funny day dreams from Walter. Stiller also missed out on an opportunity to give a nod to the original by having just one dream sequence with Kaye's classic "ta-pak-a-ta, ta-pak-a-ta" sound somewhere in the background. This movie is about a 7.4 or 7.5 therefore I had to go with a 7. If Stiller could have squeezed in what I came away missing, I could have easily elevated it to a 9. All in all, a strong effort. Go see it, you'll have a good time.