A little too dour for its message of hope and call to action, but eminently watchable nonetheless.

Rating: 6/10 (9 March 2014)

In theory, there's a great deal to enjoy about The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. It's an adventure epic about a downtrodden worker bee who discovers the meaning of life and the importance of living it, which gives two fine comedic talents - Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig - the chance to dig deep and play some genuinely emotional drama. The special effects on full display in the film are gorgeous, perfectly bringing to life the dreamscape into which our protagonist would rather escape to become anyone other than himself. It's a shame, then, that the film never quite manages to embrace its own message of joy, courage and celebration. For all that it plays up the importance of doing rather than dreaming, this is an oddly sombre affair that would benefit from an injection of adrenaline and cheer.
Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) has worked in the offices of Life for his entire career. The custodian of the magazine's photo archive, he processes and develops negatives sent in for publication - and has done so for so long that he's highly-regarded by someone he's never even met: fabled free-spirit photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn). Walter nurses a crush on his colleague Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), but has never been able to gather up the courage to do anything about it. When obnoxious corporate transition manager Ted (Adam Scott) turns up to shove the magazine literally into the digital age, Walter must leave his life of quiet mediocrity to hunt down the photograph that will grace the cover of Life's final issue before it becomes an exclusively digital publication.
For the most part, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is a pleasant if slightly over-constructed watch. Walter's dream sequences are probably the best parts of the film, filled with such glorious examples of derring-do and bravery that it's no wonder he would rather live there than in the real world. In these moments, Stiller manoeuvres his camera and marshals his special effects expertly, capturing the thrill and sheer escapist fantasy of a man who exists more fully in his dreams. Walter leaps off buildings and into windows, and morphs into a rugged mountaineer ready to sweep Cheryl off her feet. The visuals are no less spectacular once Walter embarks on his quest to find Sean - one that takes him to the most far-flung corners of the planet, from Greenland to Iceland, through shark-infested waters and bubbling volcanoes.
But, amidst the quite beautiful cinematography and sweetly-designed plot (the unveiling of Sean's final cover photograph for Life is really quite wonderful), Stiller the director appears to have forgotten to tell Stiller the actor to have a little fun with it all. He plays Walter in constantly perplexed, largely inexpressive mode, even when he has quite literally circumnavigated the globe in the course of his adventures. There's hardly ever a sense that Walter is enjoying himself, even a tiny bit.
If that's Stiller's point - that people can still get caught up in the horrors of chasing deadlines and deliverables when they finally decide to pursue their dreams - it's a grim one, and one that isn't borne out by the rest of the film. We're supposed to see this as Walter's chance at a new, braver life, one in which he doesn't just fade into the background and live inside his head. But that heady sense of joy, excitement and liberation rarely comes through. As such, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty often seems to lack heart, a crucial ingredient in a film so eager to appeal to the dreamer in all of us.
Stiller's cast, at least, is great in an unmitigated way. He might march through the film with too little joie de vivre, but he does have a nice, yearning chemistry with Wiig, who is as effective in her role as a frazzled single mom worried about losing her job, as she is as Walter's unsuspecting muse. Penn is, perhaps, one of the few actors with enough gravitas to pull off Sean's elusive and determined artistry - he's the sort of man who tracks a snow leopard for ages, only to decide that he'd prefer to enjoy rather than capture the moment on film. Shirley MacLaine and Kathryn Hahn are excellent as Walter's mom and sister respectively, the former trying to get her son to enjoy himself more, the latter flighty in a way her brother will never be.
As a director and actor, Stiller has cut his teeth on more comedic fare: from Zoolander to Tropic Thunder, he's demonstrated a flair for the absurd and ridiculous. It's ironic that what's missing from The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty - his evident attempt to move beyond comedy as outlandish as it is outrageous - is that burst of silly, warm-hearted levity that is clearly his stock-in-trade. As a result, the film is good and certainly watchable, but falls somewhat short of what Stiller no doubt hoped it would be.