uneven, hard to follow but still a lot of fun

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2013)

I remember reading James Thurber's story when I was a freshman in high school. I have to admit that Ben Stiller takes this beloved literary classic and gives it an amazing new twist. Stiller is an excellent choice to play Mitty. I have long been an admirer of his and I feel that he is like a modern day Jimmy Stewart. He has a wonderful, down to earth "everyman" quality that all of us can identify with. In his movies he is always the lovable underdog who seems so insignificant and yet in the end is the hero. All of us who have slipped on a banana peel and embarresed ourselves can identify with this wonderful thespian. What is remarkable is that as a director Stiller only gives a nod to Mitty's heroic fantasies, they flash very briefly. He dreams of saving a building full of people from a gas explosion and beating up his pain in the ass boss (who HASN'T daydreamed of that). However, in his effort to save his job and find a missing frame of film, Mitty turns real life adventurer (in the beginning he couldn't think of one "remarkable" thing he ever did in his life) We see him skateboarding through a volcanic explosion, surviving a plunge into a shark infested ocean and climbing the highest mountain in the most freezing cold. I love movies that try to be original and Stiller certainly dares to do that and it pays off wonderfully I just kept wondering what in the hell was on that Frame 25. Stiller's transformation from Marvin Milquetoast to Indiana Jones may not be the least bit convincing, or even make very little sense, but what the hell! Your entertaining us Mister Stiller and that's all that matters. Kristin Wiig, a wonderful comic actress and Saturday Night Live cast member, is really sweet as Mitty's fantasy love interest. SPOILER ALERT, after Mitty saves the day in the end and has the last word on the boss he hated, it shows he and Wiig together at last. I had that sense of disappointment I had in the end of Sleepless in Seattle, because I wanted to know if there was a happy end for both of them.