This was my first movie of 2014, and what a choice! Ben Stiller opened my year with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and he did not disappoint me!
Walter Mitty is an ordinary man, trapped in his everyday routine, who escapes by daydreaming of impossible situations. When his job at Life magazine is threatened, he finds his courage and goes on a journey to find what he is missing.
I had mixed feelings about the movie because after reading some reviews I was afraid it would just be another senseless comedy. Boy, was I wrong!
You know that kind of movies that restore your faith in humanity and make you want to change your life? The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is one of those for me.
Of course it isn’t perfect, a lot of things don’t make sense, I mean it’s not everyday that you get to fight with a shark, jump on/off a helicopter or escape an erupting volcano. However, there is more to this movie than what meets the eye.
I’m going to start with the one negative thing I have to say about this movie: the action breaks a lot. When he comes back from Iceland, it breaks the whole excitement of the situation and falls flat, because you were expecting him to carry on with his journey, but he just stops and go back to where he was in the first place. This does not necessarily hurt the movie, it just slows it down.
What I liked most was the character of Walter Mitty himself. I really appreciated seeing him going from Life magazine’s lonely “negative assets manager” who has never done anything outside of his job to someone who actually lives his life and expresses himself. He’s making the impossible possible and that’s exactly what I want to do.
Ben Stiller is incredible in the lead role; he really steps up his acting, and gives us a more serious portrayal, without exaggeration.
The balance between his two lives, the one in New York and the one outside of it are very well put in contrast while always expressing the same idea: it takes as much courage to express yourself in front of your boss than to jump off a helicopter.
What matters is not the actions, but what it means to you, because if you care and love what you do, then you can live. And that’s exactly what is represented with the photo of the last cover of Life, you see someone caring about what he’s doing, someone living.
So yes, it isn’t perfect, it’s unrealistic at some moments, too obvious in others, slowed down … but I found it completely magical and it was just what I needed to start this new year!
Rating: 4.5/5
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