SCENES FROM A DAY'S DREAM: a review of "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty"

"THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY"
Based upon the short story by James Thurber
Screen Story and Screenplay Written by Steve Conrad
Directed by Ben Stiller
** (two stars)

What is it that happens when a movie designed to inspire and uplift, unfortunately only elicits not much more than a shrug and a sigh and what could have been?

"The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty," Director and actor Ben Stiller's fantastical adaptation of the classic James Thurber short story is a film that is definitely not lacking in ambition or purpose. The film is Stiller's most visually dazzling directorial effort to date, filled with special effects that are truly special indeed and a lush cinematography that I believe should earn industry award attention for Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh. Stiller has also crafted an ode to the melancholia of life, and middle age in particular, when one begins to take stock of their individual winnings and losings to the degree that they solely exist as opposed to engage in the act of living. Stiller's film, while well intentioned, seems to be suffering from the same infliction as its titular hero as it is an experience that is just straining and aching to take flight but its feet are so firmly planted on the surface that it just hasn't got a chance to fly no matter how hard it tries.

Ben Stiller stars as Walter Mitty, a lonely Negatives Assets Manager for the photography division of the exquisite LIFE magazine, an institution which has been acquired and about to be transformed into a digital publication, a decision which will force many of LIFE's employees (and possibly Walter Mitty himself) into unemployment. Walter lives alone, keeps to himself and his photographs and houses a deep attraction to the lovely Cheryl Melhoff (an affectionate Kristin Wiig) but is too terrified to even speak to her, let alone send her an on-line "wink" through eHarmony. To combat his feelings of failure and isolation, Walter only finds solace within his fantasia of wild day dreams in which he always possesses the rights words to say and confidence to perform absolutely anything, from sailing in the air from train tracks through an open window to save Cheryl's dog from an apartment fire or battling his nemesis, the arrogant corporate tool Ted Hendricks (a terrifically pungent Adam Scott), in the city streets while skateboarding on slabs of high flying concrete.

As LIFE prepares for its final print issue, in which the powers-that-be desire to utilize a photo from famed adventurer Sean O'Connor (a wry and wonderful Sean Penn), a photo described as fully capturing the "Quintessence of life," the negative has gone missing, prompting Walter Mitty to escape his fears and embark upon a globe trotting journey in order to find the missing photo and the elusive Sean O'Conner...while also possibly winning the love of Cheryl in the process.

Dear readers, I cannot even begin tot ell you how much this movie had me firmly in its corner for a good stretch of its first third or so. I empathized with Walter immediately as I am a creature of habit, and have always been a naturally cautious person who really does not enjoy taking risks, most notably emotional ones. Truth be told, even working myself up to begin Savage Cinema, and subsequently Synesthesia, was extremely daunting but has ultimately proven themselves to be emotional risks that have rewarded me continuously and endlessly. But what if I hadn't taken those very emotional risks and was just left to having words upon words, and my own sense of self-expression locked inside of me forever and ever, not knowing if even trying would have been worth it? I am certain that all of you have harbored emotional risks of vast variety, and like you, some of them I have taken and others I have not. But to not try at all and the inner damage that can undertake, is terribly awful to ponder. And so, I reached out to Walter Mitty instantly as he balanced his checkbook, just wanting beyond wanting to connect with Cheryl on-line but fearing rocking the boat of normalcy so profoundly, even when that sense of normalcy is not what he wishes for himself at all.

Walter's day dreams and then real world adventures are presented as visual feasts that serve as the most sumptuous of wishes and wish fulfillments. Stiller, along with the aforementioned Stuart Dryburgh and his special effects team create short sequences that phase in and out of Walter's real life, and the film itself beautifully. "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" is the type of film where our hero battles sharks in the open sea after jumping from a helicopter into the waters of Greenland or climbs the Himalayan mountains (and still receives excellent cell phone service signals-a nice dry running joke) and catches a glimpse of the mythical "Ghost Cat" or skateboards at the speed of light down the highways of Iceland and Stiller renders all of them with confidence, vibrant color and deep purpose.           

The film's central mystery of the missing photo and exactly what it is a picture of also provides the film with the proper sense of pathos regarding Walter's emotional stagnation, its source and beginnings and the catalyst to possibly wrestle himself from fear and embrace the unknown whether it rewards him handsomely or not. Leaving his home to face the worlds of Greenland, Iceland and even Afghanistan with a bemused grin and an open heart is certainly prime for touching and inspiring an audience to its collective feet to at least, try and face their own individual uncharted territories and Stiller, with his sardonic, satirical wit combined with his earnestness ensures "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" doesn't become a sickeningly saccharine film experience to endure.  

So, why was this film so...frankly...boring?! Yes, dear readers, "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" is a film that is urging all of us to reach for the moon and beyond yet the overall pace of the film, ironically once Walter begins to travel the world for real, is just stuck in neutral so severely that it undercuts its own message. It's like watching a long distance runner jog in place. Emotionally, "The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" goes absolutely nowhere.

Even Ben Stiller's performance becomes stuck in a groove, remaining torpidly one-note when he should be spreading his wings. A most surprisingly occurrence for an actor who is more skilled than he typically displays. To that end, the love story between Walter and Cheryl never catches and heat or urgency, partially because they are so obviously meant for each other and have forged the warmest of a rapport as well as a more than encouraging connection that you wonder why Walter cannot just ask her out in the first place? What began as aching longing just begins to feel increasingly manufactured. Oddly enough, Walter's phone conversations with his eHarmony representative (well played by Patton Oswalt) and is eventual meeting with Sean O'Connor carry more honest care, concern, weight and authenticity.

As with Director Alexander Payne's "Nebraska," Ben Stiller's latest directorial effort is not a bad movie by any means and I do believe it has its heart in the right place. Even so, it is a film that had so much potential to be great, the very kind of honest and most importantly, earned "feel-good" movie that is in such rare supply, extremely difficult to produce and is indeed much needed in our increasingly cynical and ironic era.

"The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty" certainly tries very hard but it just wasn't enough to really make it soar.