Despite a wonderful heart and the best intentions, Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" adaptation can't quite elevate itself beyond "pretty good."

Rating: 7/10 (6 May 2014)

There's something to be said for the directorial efforts of Ben Stiller. He is a very capable visual storyteller, who is able to explore different tones, styles and genres with style and competence. Even though there have been hiccups here and there ("The Cable Guy" garnering mixed "love- it-or-hate-it" response, for example), he's got great talent behind the camera, in addition to his obvious talent in front of the camera.
So I went into his adaptation of "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" fairly open, with the expectations of seeing a potentially great film. Was it great? Well, no, unfortunately. But was it good? Yes, most certainly it was.
Stiller directs this feature, and stars as the titular Walter Mitty, a socially awkward man working for Life magazine who feels his life is of no note or consequence. He spends his time daydreaming while "zoning out", having grand fantasies about all of the things he wishes he could do- be a suave foreign lover, be a romanticized hero like those from the movies, save lives, etc... He constantly dreams up wonderful situations that he wishes he could live out. He is also quite smitten with a co-worker named Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), though he hasn't worked up the courage to ask her out yet.
After discovering that the magazine is being shut down to go exclusively online (which will cause many workers to lose their jobs), and realizing that he apparently never received the film negative for the intended cover-image of the last issue, Walter is forced to overcome his demons. He finally breaks his silence and befriends Cheryl, and then proceeds to go on a true adventure of his own, just like the ones he imagined, as he tries to track down the photographer who took the photo he cannot find, and figure out where it went.
The cast here is wonderful. Stiller is absolutely perfect for the Walter Mitty character, and he does a great job showing not only the various sides of the Mitty character, but his personal growth throughout the film. Wiig is absolutely charming as Cheryl, and gives the role an absolutely immense likability, even though it isn't very well developed beyond a basic "love interest." Supporting roles by the likes of Shirley MacLaine, Sean Penn, Patton Oswalt, Adam Scott and Adrian Martinez are similarly very well played. I particularly enjoyed the roles of Oswalt and Martinez. Oswalt plays an eHarmony customer service representative working with Walter to make his online dating profile more palatable, and he is a lot of fun to watch. And he almost becomes a sort-of makeshift "map" for the audience, as their continued phonecalls show how much Walter is growing as a character. And Martinez, despite having one of the smaller roles in the film, is a bit of a blast as Walter's understudy. Martinez has been getting more and more roles lately, and I'm quite glad. He's a very talented actor and it's nice to see him getting more recognition.
The production is also fantastic for the most part. Stiller's direction is completely captivating and very, very cool. This is problem his most well put-together film from the standpoint of visual storytelling. The cinematography is just plain gorgeous. It was some of the best image- work I've seen in a film in the last few years. The visual effects are spellbinding and really bring to life the situation. Especially Walter's fantasy sequences. And the musical score, costume design and set design are top-notch. Really just a phenomenal film production- wise.
That praise all being said, this film does have some serious flaws that hold it back. And it's quite sad, because this film has so much going for it, that it could have been flawless with just a little bit more work.
I think the biggest problems here are some issues I have with the script, some very weird hit-and-miss jokes, and a few scenes that try too hard to have a "quirky" and "indie" sensibility that backfires.
The script by Steve Conrad is very tight and well-paced, but I don't think it's clear enough, or focused enough, and there are many moments that feel contrived and confusing as a result. The handling of the material left me confused for a while, and was probably my biggest issue with the script. Especially when Walter leaves to go on his own real- life journey. I spent 20 minutes unsure if I was watching something "real" or just another of Walter's day-dreams. (It didn't help that his daydreams were constantly leaking in, thus making it more confusing to figure out what was happening.) I also felt that many characters were under-developed, including Wiig's love interest, which made them seem somewhat flat.
Some of the jokes also rubbed me the wrong way. I can't say exactly why, but sequences like the eerie "Benjamin Button" reference joke felt dated, contrived and just too "out-there" even for this film. And I do think that the film had a slight issue with trying to be too "quirky" and "indie" in nature during some scenes. It's become popular lately to emulate the clichÃ© "indie-style", and it almost always feels inorganic and forced.
But those issues being said, I still think "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is a fundamentally solid film. It just sadly is never able to quite elevate itself beyond the level of "pretty good", even though it clearly aspires to be something great and something special.
I give it a 7 out of 10. It's well-worth checking out. Just don't expect a cinematic revelation... merely expect a pleasant little film.