Ben Stiller is a man of many hats. He can be the straight man, he can be the comic relief, many times he is the glue that ties all the other dysfunctional characters together. He's done family comedies, R-Rated fare, animated children's work in Madagascar, and romantic comedies. But what we've never really seen from him is an immersion into dramatic territory. Until The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
Walter Mitty is an employee at Life Magazine who works in the negative assets department. He frequently drifts into daydreams in order to escape his boring monotonous reality, often fantasizing about his co-worker Cheryl. When famed photographer Sean O'Connell sends in a roll of negatives for Life's final issue, Walter notices that Negative #25 is missing, one which O'Connell proclaims to be the quintessence of photography. With his job and the final issue on the line, Walter spontaneously decides to go in search of O'Connell, finally going on a real life adventure.
There is no denying that the film is ambitious. It sets out to achieve a grand scale of escapism not just for the audience, but also for it's main character. But for it's grand scale, it isn't totally successful. For all it hopes to accomplish, it feels too predictable. Some of the dots are far too quickly connected which takes away a good portion of originality and surprise factor. There's not a whole lot left to the imagination, and I can't help but feel that it could use a little more edge.
That isn't to say it's a bad movie. Quite the contrary. For a mainly dramatic affair, it has enough amount of humor to keep it from growing stale. I might even of as far as to call it a dramedy. The blending of the tones is well balanced, making a film that never grows old. It's predictability aside, it's a great story of a man trying to break free from his shell. One that has been done to death, but not something that makes you groan with frustration.
I absolutely loved the cinematography in this film. The landscapes and the way in which they are captured are almost out of a tourism commercial, which inspire pure awe at the sights. The transitions between some of the shots are remarkably inventive and fun. If Gravity wasn't released this year, it could have had a shot at the Oscar.
Ben Stiller tries a role that is much more grounded in drama than anything he has tried before. His reluctance and sheltered facade creates a sound base from which to grow into a spirited adventurer who wants to break free. He isn't totally unrecognizable from what we've seen from him, and for that the transition is much easier to accept him as a dramatic actor.
Also trying her hand at more serious work is the lovely and talented Kristen Wiig. For the part she plays, her performance brings about a new side for her. She's nothing to write home about in this film, but it is really entertaining to see this refreshing change of pace for her.
Adam Scott (Ben Wyatt from Parks and Recreation) does a brilliant job as the atypical high level executive who is unqualified for his job and gets off on picking on underlings. He has always played lovable characters, this time he gets to be a little bit darker and a tad more distanced from his type. Again, this film is a wonderful showcase for actors to try their hand on the other side of the street, and Adam Scott is no exception.
Andrew's Standout for this film would be Mr. Sean Penn. His brief turn as Sean O'Connell is surely the most entertaining role, and in a film where the expected and predictable is pretty apparent, his actions come across as the most unexpected. Rather than put on airs as a conceptual artist photographer who is full of himself, Sean cuts through the b.s. and gets down to it. Even in that capacity, he is still wonderfully poetic.
It's certainly not the best film to come out this year, and its not likely to win any major awards, but The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is solid entrainment with more pros than its cons. Give it a look.
B-
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