The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty. Rated PG (mild themes, action violence, sexual references and coarse
language). 114 minutes. Directed by Ben Stiller. Screenplay by Steve Conrad,
based on a short story by James Thurber.
Verdict: Romance and
adventure go head to head in this uneven tale about daring to live the life you
always dreamed of.
As ideas for potentially
fascinating films go, Thurber’s short story (published in 1939) about a day-dreamer
who escapes into the fantasy realm to escape his mundane existence is
inspirational source material.
Previously adapted for the
screen in 1947 with Danny Kaye in the title role, Conrad (The Pursuit of
Happyness) has a bet each way on just how interesting the story will be in
2013. By setting his very loose adaptation in the headquarters of LIFE magazine
as it faces imminent closure, Conrad surrounds the fantastic central premise of
the story with too much baggage. Walter (Stiller, in a fine, understated
performance) becomes the butt of too many workplace bullying jokes, and his
romance with co-worker and single mum Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) feels awkwardly
contrived and takes up far too much screen time.
But once the second act kicks
in, Conrad and Stiller’s vision for the story finally takes flight, as Walter
sets off on an adventure to retrieve a missing negative that world-renowned
photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) was supposed to have provided for
LIFE’s final cover.
The sequences in Iceland,
where Walter finds himself confronting the wild and unpredictable environment
are beautifully realised, and Stiller’s performance as a mild-mannered geek
from New York forced into previously unimaginable heroics is wonderful to
watch.
Problematically, the film
ultimately appears to duck the profoundly personal message at the core of its
source, which is that is possibly more liberating to convince yourself of just
how capable you are of living the life you always wanted, than by obsessing
about what others think of you.
This review was commissioned
by the West Australian Newspaper Group.
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