Review of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) by 666Anticritic — 30 Dec 2013

After seeing the poor reviews and overly-inspirational trailer for "The Secret LIfe of Walter Mitty", I was skeptical when I was invited to see this movie. My initial suspicions were (mostly) correct "Mitty" is a feel-good movie, with a heavy emphasis on inspiration and complete with soaring rock anthems in the background. These qualities typically work against films; audiences who "don't fall for it" feel they are being patronized or worse, manipulated into feeling something they don't want.

Fortunately, director Ben Stiller, who has received a significant amount of unwarranted flak simply for daring to be a comedian and direct a movie, recognizes the pitfalls of the subgenre. "Mitty" inspires by virtue of being virtuous rather than by falling back on melodrama to tug at the heartstrings. Floating by like the daydreams of the titular character, the film doesn't even seem all that preoccupied with pushing anything in your face, contrary to most reviews.

One other notable aspect of note is the camerawork. Criticized for contributing the overly grandiose feel of the film, I can't believe how critics missed, or at least ignored (certainly didn't mention), such an obvious facet of the film: Walter works at LIFE magazine, a company whose motto, future, and work over the years are a heavy focus of the film, is well known for the iconic photography frequently on display on its front page. Most of the wide angle landscape shots in the film are beautiful homages to such images, and each time I saw one, I could easily envision it on the magazine cover.

The acting is pretty standard, with no one really standing out in particular, but it feels to be all in service of fostering the atmosphere of the fable or tall tale that it really is. Perhaps Fox made a mistake by promoting "Mitty" as awards-show fare; nothing on display here is particularly revolutionary or avant-garde, and critics may have just gone into it with unfulfilled expectations. That's really a shame, because "Mitty" is a beautiful, simple, and fun movie which stand head and shoulders above any other family fare released all year. Unless you're a huge cynic, you should see this movie.