Film Review | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The ability to fantasise is probably one of the few things that separates us – that’s humans, in case you were wondering – from the animal kingdom. Now I’m no biologist or zoologist, so I’m willing to concede that this may be a sweeping statement, and that in some recess of the animal psyche – in some exemplary species – there will reside an ability to dream up things which may go beyond mere survival instinct and self-preservation.

But generally speaking, daydreaming appears to be exclusively the domain of humans, and we’re probably both richer and poorer for it: the imagination can be a great boon and lead to the creation of many wonderful things, but of course you all know how – in matters of the heart, in matters of both personal and professional ambition – it can skew and distract, how it can also encourage us to prop up hopes and expectations that inevitably end up being crushed and destroyed.

Adapted from a short story by beloved American satirist James Thurber, Ben Stiller’s film – in which he’s also the titular star – hinges on this tension for both comedic and heart-warming effect, while also slightly overreaching its bounds in an attempt to eke out genuine poignancy out of the endeavour.

Walter Mitty (Stiller) is a ‘negative assets manager’ at Life Magazine (essentially, this means he fiddles around with photo negatives before they go to print) and an incorrigible daydreamer: he spends a large chunk of his time picturing himself as a modern-day swashbuckling adventurer, who also successfully courts the affections of his co-worker, the recently-divorced Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). Sadly, reality is both more humdrum and slightly more grim: Cheryl is friendly but doesn’t appear to reciprocate Walter’s feelings entirely, and as we meet Walter, the head honchos at Life announce that the company is being bought out, with inevitable downsizing looming on the horizon.

Walter is given one final challenge before the print edition of the magazine folds: he is to process the final cover image, sent by the legendary but elusive photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn). But there’s one small problem: the crucial negative – which O’Connell refers to as “the quintessence of Life” – appears to be missing from the roll of negatives O’Connell sends to the Life offices. Pressured by obnoxious corporate transitions manager Ted (Adam Scott, who appears trapped in “despicable d-bag” roles) to deliver the cover and using the remaining pictures in O’Connell’s roll as clues, Walter – spurned to action against character – embarks on a journey to “distant lands” to find the lost image… finally making good on his fantasy life.

Hybrid stories are always a gamble in Hollywood: as a rule, execs like to know exactly what kind of film they’re getting well in advance, viewing any ambiguity with hostility. Perhaps they fear the audience will react in the same way: dismissing anything that can’t be summarised in a couple of pithy phrases. It’s perhaps a given that a big name like Stiller would have some weight to throw around at the big studios, but he’s still to be commended for taking on a film that nestles between both comedy and drama – not always comfortably or evenly, it must be said – and whose most extravagant flights of fancy are brief flashes that only take place inside the protagonist’s head.

Executive-produced by that other genre-bending director Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean, Rango, The Weather Man), Stiller’s film is a mish-mash that sometimes feels joyous, sometimes messy. But it runs on enough consistent goodwill to keep you emotionally hooked into Walter’s journey – you can’t help but cheer him on, even if the meandering film – running just under two hours – could possibly have benefited with a more brutal hand at the cutting room.

It helps that the individual fantastical vignettes are executed well: each action sequence feels like it belongs to its blockbuster equivalent, so the audience is regaled to mini-films in their own right, littered across the film before the plot finally gets going.

It’s a shame, then, that while Stiller clearly wants to make a film that’s more than just a piece of throwaway escapism (in favour of it actually being about escapism), the clutter that ensues distracts it away into inconsequence. Again, a more evenly structured script would have taken care of some of these problems, driving home the underlying theme: that daydreaming is both irresistible and universal, but that we need to grab life by the balls if we really want to be happy.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty will be shown at St James Cavalier, Valletta on May 21-25 at 20:45.