As much fun as one of Walter's imaginings

Rating: 8/10 (11 December 2014)

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is directed by and stars Ben Stiller, who I like, as a bored man who works at Life Magazine in the negatives sector. He regularly escapes into his fantasy world, and eventually embarks on an adventure to retrieve a lost negative. Although my expectations were low, this is a very pleasant surprise. It's both exciting and funny, and an excellent excursion into visually dazzling, witty, dream like escapism. Ben Stiller shows he's one of the best actor directors at work and the film actually looks genuinely great. All but one of the dream sequences are very interesting and Walter Mitty is a character many will relate to. It's not without flaws, but didn't deserve the low rotten tomatoes rating. The 'twist' is painfully obvious, the way that Walter goes and has his big adventure slightly deviates from the point and it can be style over substance, but it's still a lot of fun. In general, it's a very entertaining and relatable movie, with Ben Stiller on full likable ordinary guy mode and full unsung awesome director mode.
TSLOWM has a very satisfying and charming plot, and the adventure sequences are really well done. The romance at the centre is slightly predictable, but not overly so and adds to the film's charm. The screenplay has plenty of warmth and likability as well. This is a very enjoyable film with a surprising amount of heart. It's more ambitious than many films of its kind and certainly falls into the 'underappreciated movies of 2013' category. A very entertaining big of escapism overall, if a bit predictable and unremarkable and good viewing for the whole family. It's certainly a lot better than it sounds, and while some have complained about style over substance, there's a fair amount of substance to anchor the style in there.
8/10