A cross between Sherlock Holmes and Forrest Gump

Rating: 8/10 (7 January 2014)

Consider this a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Forrest Gump – a compelling search to save professional integrity erases an awkward search for social acceptance. What is life like for Walter Mitty, an asset manager of film negatives? It's so dull, monotonous and unsocial, working in a dark basement with albums of film, that he is given to frequent daydreams of fun, excitement and adventure in the middle of conversations. He cannot even manage a profile on e-Harmony to meet women because he has no life outside of work. Walter is a fumbling, socially awkward, pushover who is sadly the butt of jokes. But all this is about to change when his publishing company transitions from paper magazines to the Internet. They are scheduled to publish the last cover but somehow the negative from their solitary geographic photographer, Sean, goes mysteriously missing. To save his job and the reputation of the magazine, Walter is thrust into the impossible position of covering for the lost negative while privately investigating clues for the whereabouts of the adventurous photographer and hunting him down. He must solve the puzzle of elusive clues in Sean's negatives to find his trail. In so doing, Walter travels the world taking unexpected life threatening risks with every opportunity. He is relentless and determined to save face yet ironically he builds a repertoire of experiences for his e-Harmony profile. In his pursuit he befriends his co-worker, Cheryl, with whom he has always had a secret crush. He uses every conceivable resource one can imagine, including Cheryl, to find Sean, even giving up at one point when the trail runs cold. Like Forrest Gump, Walter Mitty never knows what life will throw his way. The ending is quite unexpected and I won't give it away. The film gets off to a slow start but the script, acting, outstanding cinematography and storyline make up for this. Although far-fetched, I find this to be a believable dramatic and funny story. I recommend it.