"God, you're noteworthy!"

Rating: 7/10 (30 December 2013)

It seems that the later half of 2013 has proved those (including myself) wrong about 2013 being a bad year for films. I'm not saying that this is the best of 2013, just that it's not as bad as I thought this years movies would be.
When I started watching this, I wasn't in the best of moods. Which can be seen as a problem, because this is what's branded as a 'feel good film'. We'd got to the cinema late, in the hope that ads would run for around 20 minutes before the film, as they always do. This time, they did not. We didn't miss a lot, probably just the first 3 minutes. However, finally settling in wasn't made easy by my mother frequently tapping me and stating, "that Ben Siller's quite small, isn't he?" (That's not a typo, by the way, she still thinks his surname is 'Siller').
Anyway, this movie is not bad. Stiller really seems to know what he's doing, and I think this is a brave move for him, as he's usually typecast as a comedy actor. With this film, he's demonstrated that he understands how to use the camera to represent peoples everyday daydreams. Everyone does it, which makes Walter instantly relatable (to some degree). The feeling of escapism is brought across quite well, with clear contrasts to his mundane work life to his wild daydreams and eventual traveling.
The acting is also noteworthy. The problem is, however, I feel that a film like this had a lot of potential for brilliant performances, which it didn't quite fulfill. They weren't bad per sè, but they didn't stand out like they could have. Slightly predictable, in a sense.
Wiig's character is likable, but that's pretty much it. You see her as a love interest, and a kind of asset to him, but she's not enough to make you feel involved. I don't think that's because she can't do it, rather I think that she wasn't in it enough. She's a great actress, but she was mainly in this just for Mitty to daydream and awkwardly stare at.
Stiller gives his signature acting style, however more played down, as this isn't a comedy. This style fits the character, for sure, but it could have been more alive. His Mexican friend and the Parks and Rec guy were pretty good as well, but it just seems too centered around Mitty. Character development was an issue, but that could possibly be because there was a baby sitting behind me making rather interesting chewing noises (though, to be fair, I must say it's parents kept it quiet quite well).
There some decent laughs in this, too. Not like, "HAHAHA oh boy I can't breathe! Really! Call the cinema doctor!" But like, "Aha. Ah. Man, I need the toilet. But I'd rather see how far this joke goes before I go". The daydream sequences are comical, because although they are cleverly done, they are so out of the ordinary and enjoyable.
It's not just the daydreams that were directed with care, though. My favourite scene is one that takes place through an x-day scanner. You seen everything happen through this screen, which is simply effective and comical.
There is a scene that parodies a certain movie from a couple of years back. Now, when I heard that, I was instantly interested and couldn't wait to see what it was. Alas, when it got to it, it just didn't make sense. It didn't fit in, and was just there for an extra laugh, which it didn't need.
A feel good soul searching film that was good, but had a lot of potential that it didn't fulfill, mainly due to the acting and oddly placed comedic scenes. Yeah, that's probably the best way I can put it. It's worth a watch, and it's not on the level of 'Walking with Dinosaurs', but we've seen better films this end of the year.