Ratings:
8.4/10
Film Class: B
Genre: Fantasy Comedy
What’s amazing is that the greatest “secret” of Walter Mitty is that he was scheduled for a remake in 1994 (yup, there’s an even older version in 1947)… but due to loads of production hiccups, we only get to see him now (2013). Ben Stiller wasn’t the first choice, to act or to direct, but ended up doing both, with stellar results.
While initially pretty corny, it slowly evolved into something rather abstract. Walter Mitty is the manager of the negative assets sector of Life magazine; basically he develops photos for his company from film negatives. It’s old school, and his job is put on the line when his company was brought over, with an impending downsizing of the company. He was tasked to develop the photo for the last issue of Life Magazine, using negative 25 that was sent by an independent photographer, Sean O’Connell who has contributed to many of Life’s cover photos. However, in the roll of negatives that Sean sent, negative 25 is missing.
Walter Mitty lives a rather boring life. He zones out most of the time, and enters his fantasy world. He has taken a liking to this new colleague of his but has not found the courage to ask her out for a date. So how does a missing negative 25, a chronic day-dreamer and his love interest come together? That’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty for you.
*major spoilers ahead* There’s so much character empathy and fantasy corniness that it greys the line between fantasy and reality. On one hand we get so conditioned to think that what looked outrageous would surely be part of his fantasy, but on the other when it hits that they are realities, coupled with the character empathy built up in the course of the film, it churns out a really feel-good feeling that few movies have been able to achieve. It’s… psychedelically beautiful.
The soundtrack charms too, and that one scene about the helicopter, without giving too much away, is a scene that’s gonna stick in my memory palace for a long long time. I went like “w** just happened” after that scene, and the amazing thing was that Ben Stiller gave that exact same expression.
At one point I was wondering where the movie was leading to, cos it seemed like everything he did was much ado about nothing. And yet Ben Stiller is a master of teasers, because I was reeled in like a little guppy, wanting to uncover the fantasy mystery as to what negative 25 was. However, I was about to get my hopes all dashed with all the convincing throw offs when perhaps he thought, ok, it’s enough, time to reveal what the photo is to my cringing audience. And the best part, it’s worth sitting through all the mental and emotional abuse for. That last scene was like an unintentional twist, a finale that wraps everything up just perfect. But it’s not just that, at the end of the day, it’s more than just a mystery, it’s a journey into a day-dreamer’s life, and an experience to “grow” with him.
It’s no blockbuster quality, but it’s ace material, with fantasmic execution.
Film Class: B
Genre: Fantasy Comedy
What’s amazing is that the greatest “secret” of Walter Mitty is that he was scheduled for a remake in 1994 (yup, there’s an even older version in 1947)… but due to loads of production hiccups, we only get to see him now (2013). Ben Stiller wasn’t the first choice, to act or to direct, but ended up doing both, with stellar results.
While initially pretty corny, it slowly evolved into something rather abstract. Walter Mitty is the manager of the negative assets sector of Life magazine; basically he develops photos for his company from film negatives. It’s old school, and his job is put on the line when his company was brought over, with an impending downsizing of the company. He was tasked to develop the photo for the last issue of Life Magazine, using negative 25 that was sent by an independent photographer, Sean O’Connell who has contributed to many of Life’s cover photos. However, in the roll of negatives that Sean sent, negative 25 is missing.
Walter Mitty lives a rather boring life. He zones out most of the time, and enters his fantasy world. He has taken a liking to this new colleague of his but has not found the courage to ask her out for a date. So how does a missing negative 25, a chronic day-dreamer and his love interest come together? That’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty for you.
*major spoilers ahead* There’s so much character empathy and fantasy corniness that it greys the line between fantasy and reality. On one hand we get so conditioned to think that what looked outrageous would surely be part of his fantasy, but on the other when it hits that they are realities, coupled with the character empathy built up in the course of the film, it churns out a really feel-good feeling that few movies have been able to achieve. It’s… psychedelically beautiful.
The soundtrack charms too, and that one scene about the helicopter, without giving too much away, is a scene that’s gonna stick in my memory palace for a long long time. I went like “w** just happened” after that scene, and the amazing thing was that Ben Stiller gave that exact same expression.
At one point I was wondering where the movie was leading to, cos it seemed like everything he did was much ado about nothing. And yet Ben Stiller is a master of teasers, because I was reeled in like a little guppy, wanting to uncover the fantasy mystery as to what negative 25 was. However, I was about to get my hopes all dashed with all the convincing throw offs when perhaps he thought, ok, it’s enough, time to reveal what the photo is to my cringing audience. And the best part, it’s worth sitting through all the mental and emotional abuse for. That last scene was like an unintentional twist, a finale that wraps everything up just perfect. But it’s not just that, at the end of the day, it’s more than just a mystery, it’s a journey into a day-dreamer’s life, and an experience to “grow” with him.
It’s no blockbuster quality, but it’s ace material, with fantasmic execution.
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