Walter Mitty is the negative asset manager for LIFE
magazine. Just an ordinary guy: lonely, unfulfilled, and aware of his
insignificance, Walter spends a lot of his time zoning out of his humdrum
reality and daydreaming about one filled with heroism, creativeness, and other
things that are noteworthy. When the executives drop the bomb that the magazine
is folding, the picture for the final issue’s cover falls to Walter, however
when the package arrives the quintessential picture is missing. In the blink of
an eye, Walter’s seemingly innocuous life becomes one out of his own daydreams
as he spontaneously takes a leap of faith and attempts to track down the
elusive photographer who might have the missing negative.
Wow. … Just…wow. This
movie put me in mind of one of my all-time favourites: Stranger Than Fiction. I firmly believe that that movie was Will
Ferrell’s tour de force: the most beautiful thing that that man has ever done.
This is what The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty was for Ben Stiller! It’s his tour de force, his Stranger Than Fiction, and the best film to come out of 2013 (that
I’ve seen obviously)! You watch this movie and it just makes you feel. Feel like you can do anything, be
anyone, it sends ripples through your entire body just lifting you up and
keeping you above the ocean’s floor. Very, very, very few films have the power to do that and that it why I say that
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is
one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen!
Walter Mitty is the negative
asset manager for LIFE magazine. Just an ordinary guy: lonely, unfulfilled, and
aware of his insignificance, Walter spends a lot of his time zoning out of his
humdrum reality and daydreaming about one filled with heroism, creativeness,
and other things that are noteworthy. When the executives drop the bomb that
the magazine is folding, the picture for the final issue’s cover falls to
Walter, however when the package arrives the quintessential picture is missing.
In the blink of an eye, Walter’s seemingly innocuous life becomes one out of
his own daydreams as he spontaneously takes a leap of faith and attempts to
track down the elusive photographer who might have the missing negative.
First,
let’s talk about the writing. The script is just glorious because it’s real.
It’s everyday, it’s humdrum, it’s reality. A lot of the film’s humour stems
from this script for the simple reason that it is so real and filled with normalcy. Case in point: scenes where
Walter is in really remote locations like a snow-capped mountain and his phone
rings… it’s the guy from eHarmony ringing to talk to him about his profile. The
laughs generated from this film are delightful, light-hearted, and warm
giggles, chortles, and chuckles that only come from seeing something so normal
against a setting that is so abnormal.
The cinematography and the camera
direction was just mesmerising from start to finish. These beautiful long shots
are used to dazzling effect and then we have these captivating sweeping aerial
shots over the exotic landscapes and cityscapes. There is one scene that I
really love that shows Walter just running in slow motion through the LIFE
building. The camera just follows him running but very subtly overtakes him and
moves him further into camera right’s corner. I can’t tell you why, but that scene
is a really beautiful scene and it’s
just so moving to watch.
The performances were gorgeous, particularly those of
Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig. I believe that it’s the true measure of an actor
if they can pull off acting as a normal person without any discernable
significance, and both Ben and Kristen were just glorious.
Starring Jon Daly,
Kathryn Hahn, Terence Bernie Hines, Adam Scott, Adrian Martinez, Olafur Darri
Olafsson, Shirley MacLaine, and Sean Penn, The
Secret Life of Walter Mitty is Ben Stiller’s tour de force both as an actor
and director. Filled with incredible camera shots, captivating landscape,
romance, drama, comedy, and a truly, truly
beautiful story, I stand by my claim that it’s the best film to come out of
2013 and one of the most beautiful films that I have ever seen! I absolutely adored it!!!
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