A must watch movie of the decade.

Rating: 10/10 (5 May 2018)

I wrote this review after watching the movie on board the plane and then watched it a few times on Blu-ray.
Walter Mitty is a methodical, middle aged man who leads systematic and quiet life as a negative assets manager for Life Magazine in New York which publishes beautiful photography of life events over many decades. His life, at first glance, appears to be well planned and almost down to a routine. But early on in the movie you get to see glimpses of his secret life where he disappears into an action-packed adventure world of fantasy. But they remain just that - fantasies, until something happens on another day of boring routine.
It starts off as a simple missing photograph film negative; in the movie, this is referred to as "Negative 25". Mitty had never lost a negative in his long years of experience. Understandably, when this particular negative goes missing and when retrieving that becomes absolutely important for him to retain his job, the movie takes on a different tone. Mitty ends up chasing an adventurer-photographer by the name of Sean through various parts of the world, in the process, experiencing life to the fullest.
The movie takes you deep into the absolute devotion Mitty has shown towards his mother, sister, his job and even his assistant at work. You could almost feel the heavy burden of responsibility throughout the movie and how miserable he feels with the fear of letting these people down. There is some flashback to his childhood when he was landed into this responsibility after the unfortunate demise of his father and how this stopped him from experiencing any adventure for himself.
There are some very powerful scenes in the movie. Mitty goes up to this cliff somewhere in Iceland and looks over this enormous landscape from where he has to somehow go down to pursue the adventurer Sean. You could tell from his facial expression - this is such an enormous task that he has ever faced in his life. For a moment you think - is he going to give up? And then you see that look of determination on his face - he deploys all that he has learnt and innovates his way out of the problem, claiming his credentials as an adventurer himself.
In another scene in the movie where he is in the back of a New York taxi, after failing to retrieve the missing Negative 25. The scene only lasts for around 10 to 20 seconds and there is no dialogue. But Ben Stiller does such an incredible performance that almost take your breath away. His look says it all -expressing a mix of disappointment, self-defeat and the misery of failing those who trusted him.
In that sense, the movie very much plays into your moral compass. Clearly, one would at least sometimes sacrifices one's own desires and dreams. But how far does one take these sacrifices and for how long? Would those people that care about you not understand that you may have your own dreams? Ultimately though, one may end up sacrificing a bit too much and may be the things you had attributed so much of importance in life don't mean that much after all. Perhaps at some point we need to let go. In the movie, it is a piano, of sentimental value to his mother. They end up having to sell this eventually, but his mother is quite happy to accept it is time to give it up.
The philosophical tones in this film are enjoyable and I guess each person will reminisce in their own way, even after finishing the movie. To me, the most powerful message from this film was that you don't always have to win - sometimes, losing is the best form of winning. Life has a funny way of placing that seemingly small hurdle that allows you to review and challenge your own routine existence. Whether you rise to the challenge, or simply dream on, is the question!
Overall, this movie is such a gem and the last thing I was expecting was the incredible acting and direction from Ben Stiller (whom I hadn't really liked before as a comedy actor). Steven Conrad's story is fantastically full of subtle twists, the dialogues are just right. Add the beautiful photography and an excellent musical score - you have a movie you can easily watch over and over and get a a warm glow! Enjoy...