The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

nTitle: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

nDirector: Ben Stiller

nCast: Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Sean Penn, Shirley MacLaine,nAdam Scott

nThere’s a couple of films out there that are about the bluencollar worker, the quintessential “little guy” who makes the wheels ofnsocieties mechanisms turn. The guy often times treated like crap but without whomnthe big old company wouldn’t be able to run. That’s the kind ofnmovie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is, it’s the story of Walter Mitty, anguy who works deep within the bowls of LIFE magazine. The big guys at the topnof the corporate ladder can’t even remember his name, but without him; they wouldn’tnget that cool picture on the cover. Problem is that Walter is afraid ofnliving life; he’s the kind of guy who drifts away into daydreams about what he’dnlike to do with his life, but never really makes them come true.

nI’ve always admired Ben Stiller both as an actor and as andirector. Of course, just like any other actor or director, he’s been known to commitna cinematic sin or two but Stiller has demonstrated on more than one occasion thatnhe is a mighty talented guy behind the cameras as well as in front of them.nTake for example Tropic Thunder (2008); one of the few comedies to truly makenme laugh, which is a hard feat on its own. I call films like Tropic Thunder super comediesnbecause these are films that are populated by real comedians and there’s nothingnbetter than getting a bunch of really funny people together to make a movie.nFilms like these are usually nonstop funny; which to me was the case with Tropic Thunder. Another example of Stiller’s finenabilities as a director is The Cable Guy (1996), a dark comedy with some depthnto it; I mean, behind all of Jim Carrey’s shenanigans lies an interesting socialncommentary about a whole generation raised in front of the television set. Andnspeaking of depth and comedy, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty has a little bitnof both of these elements as well; the film doesn’t just make you laugh, itnalso comments about life, or lack thereof.

nYou see, though Mitty has a cool job; he’s afraid to have anrelationship, he’s afraid to talk to women, he’s afraid of everything. Worstnpart is he knows it. He knows his life could be more exciting, he knows hencould do more with it. One fine day Mitty and his co-workers are notified thatnLIFE magazine is closing down and that a lot of them are going to be fired. Inna strange twist of irony, they still have to work hard to produce the lastnissue of the magazine! Thankfully, Sean O’Connell, the greatest photographer tonever walk the face of the earth (played by Sean Penn) is donating one of hisnbest pictures ever to be used as the final cover; problem is that the picturenis nowhere to be found! And nobody can get a hold of Sean O’Connell! And theynneed that picture for the cover! So Walter, feeling like his life is justnpassing him by, suddenly decides to takes it upon himself to have an adventure!nSo off he goes, in his search for Sean O’Connell and the picture for the finalncover of LIFE! Will Walter Mitty learn to live his life along the way?

nThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty focuses on the struggles ofnthe blue collar worker, a theme that’s been touched upon many times in previousnfilms. I mean, we could go as far back as Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936),na film in which we see Chaplin’s Tramp battling his employers who want to turnnhim into just another piece of machinery, working like a robot, in fact, innChaplin’s genius, he concocted a scene in which he actually becomes a part ofnthe gears of the machines! In doing so he not only created one of the mostniconic images in cinematic history, he also made a great visual allegory to man’snstruggle with industrialization. Mitty is not without its allegorical images,nin fact, since Mitty spends most of his time zoning out into dream world, thenfilm overflows with them. In one fantastic scene we see Walter battling hisnboss as they both surf through a concrete jungle!

nAnother film that we can compare The Secret Life of WalternMitty to is one of my personal favorite films ever: Joe Versus the Volcano (1990).nOn that film Joe is the worker who hates his soul sucking job. He’s fallen in anrut. But when they tell him he only has a few months to live, he decides tonpartake on an adventure that teaches him that life is all about taking risks;nsame as in Mitty. Actually, strangely enough, The Secret Life of Walter Mittynalso features a volcano eruption! Could it be a strange coincidence or could itnbe Stiller showing his influences? If we want to compare even further, there’snStrange than Fiction (2006), in which Will Farrell has fallen on the dreadful “every day is the same” routine, not havingnany time in his life even for love. All these films I’ve mentioned havensomething in common, they are all about people who are disenchanted with life,nthey all deal with characters that are bored and have forgotten how beautifulnlife can really be if we just change things a little bit, if we choose to takenrisks, if we decide to make things interesting. The idea of doing something younare terribly afraid of is always present. In the case of Joe, he was terrifiednof jumping in the volcano. In Mitty it’s jumping onto a moving helicopter! It’snthat age old idea of taking the leap and going for the unexpected! The idea ofnnot living by the rules, of not feeling safe, of daring to take that leap intonthe unknown. In the end The Secret Life of Walter Mitty ended up being one ofnmy favorites of the year, a very pleasant surprise. Not only does it havendepth, but since it stars the often times hilarious Ben Stiller, well, it alsonhas the benefit of being funny. I found myself laughing out loud on many occasions.nSo we’re talking about a funny and uplifting film here. It’s one of thosenmovies that will make you want to go on an adventure, take that trip you’venalways wanted to take or tell that person how you really feel about them. Infound it so fitting that Walter Mitty works at “Life” magazine, because the filmnattempts to define the meaning of life for us; I ended up loving what ThenSecret Life of Walter Mitty was trying to tell us: “To see the world, things dangerousnto come to, to see behind walls, draw closer, to find each other and to feel.nThat is the purpose of life.” Just beautiful.

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nRating: 5 out of 5