The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Movie Review

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was a film that I was looking forward to seeing at the end of 2013, a very great year for film. Unfortunately I was rather disappointed with it. Being Ben Stiller's directorial debut I guess it could have been worse. The film does have some redeeming qualities but not nearly enough to save it. Starring Ben Stiller himself playing Walter Mitty and Kristin Wiig playing Cheryl Melhoff.

We're dropped into the daily life of Walter Mitty who works for Life magazine as a negatives assets manager in the photography department. Early on we see that he is a heavy day-dreamer. He slips into this trance like phase and the wildest things come to life before our eyes. What really attracted me to the film and one of the things that I did enjoy about it was how beautiful the cinematography was. The scenery and backgrounds were just so surreal and the use of CGI was wonderfully done.

For the last ever printed copy of Life magazine Walter was supposed to use a picture taken by Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) for the cover. When he comes to realize that the picture is missing and his job is on the line, he must go on an adventure to track down Sean O'Connell and get this picture. The only problem is that he is in some remote place on Earth and isn't exactly sure where. This adventure he embarks on resembles some of the amazing events that he often day-dreams about.

And then we have Walter's love interest Cheryl Melhoff. Here's the thing; The Secret Life of Walter Mitty had potential but just didn't really deliver. What lacked in script and substance was filled with beautiful effects and it just didn't cut it for me. There were some real nice moments and the film did have some touching underlying messages but it felt very cliche at times. Honestly when I think of this film the thing I remember most was the recurring song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie which is a song that I love. I did enjoy the performances from the actors and am a big Ben Stiller fan. That being said I give The Secret Life of Walter Mitty a 5 out 10. I didn't hate the film but it is not one that I am interested in re-watching.