The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty
By Gregory McLinden
Image Source: Always Packed for Adventure!
logline: When both he and a colleague are about to lose their job, Walter takes action by embarking on an adventure more extraordinary than anything he could have ever imagined.
Source: IMDb
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty: I have to admit it is a relatively unknown modern cinematic masterpiece. It is awe-inspiringly beautiful. If you can seriously watch this film, and by the end of it don't want to book tickets to travel the world then that's impressive. The film follows photograph processor Walter, who is thrust into a journey across the globe - why, you ask? To find a missing photograph. Yep, that's actually the whole plot. But that's all this film needs in the modern day. Too many films rely on spectacle and mind bending stories that even after you've watched the film a million times you still don't fully understand, there aren't enough films that just amble on by with an easy to follow plot, even comedies are becoming increasingly more complicated. The only other modern film I can think of off the top of my head that fits this description is Hunt for the Wilderpeople - both this and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are my two favourite films of all time. We see Walter travel the globe, his journey takes him from New York to Greenland, Iceland, and the Himalayas (more of this in the something I loved section below). Like many of us, Walter is a notorious day dreamer, he will often come in and out of daydreams. This is something we see on screen, as ludicrously unrealistic scenarios play out in front of him, but alas they are all in his mind, this also makes for some incredibly random moments - including a Benjamin Button like scene and a scene seeing a stretch Adam's doll being used to skiing in New York, yes you read that right. Nevertheless, I cannot describe my love and admiration for this film, this was the first film that made me realise how important the camera positioning and cinematography is to a film. The film is truly beautiful, the acting is incredible, the cinematography is some of the best I've ever seen on screen. The film also has countless quotes, there are many Pinterest boards and Instagram pages dedicated to how inspiring this film is as it shows off a side to the world that most films don't. You can travel across the globe, but it is rare that you will get wide landscape shots really showing off the beauty of a country, they are normally just in the backdrop if the production if they are even there at all, and it wasn't all just done on a computer in LA somewhere. This film is real and beautiful, it is also hilarious. There are some truly funny moments not least involving a ship sailing from Greenland to Iceland. I personally would also call this film a romance due to Walter's crush on fellow co-worker Cheryl Melhoff, something that underpins most of the film (including a rendition of Space Oddity in Greenland). His phone calls with eHarmony customer service worker Todd come at the most inopportune moments, but really make you chuckle. I honestly can't describe my love for this film, it is truly beautiful, and as someone who is a sad Geographer and who loves travelling; seeing the vast landscapes showing off icebergs, winding desolate roads down mountain sides, small coastal towns, mountains, volcanoes, vast plains and seascapes, New York city skylines, to name but a few. If you are someone who has always wanted to travel but never quite been able to (I believe the word is Wanderlust) then this is the film for you. If you like a film you can snuggle up to on a cold winter's night, this is the film for you. If you need inspiring and uplifting to believe you can do anything you can set your mind to, because you can, then The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty is the film for you.
My Favorite Characters:
Ben Stiller as Walter Mitty. As well as perfectly directing this film Ben Stiller is as always an incredible actor. He truly shows off his range as an actor going from something like Zoolander to Tropic Thunder, both roles which see Stiller as quite outgoing and loud, but then here in The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty he is quite reserved, nervous, anxious, and not by any means the centre of attention in fact more the exact opposite, just someone who sinks into the background most of the time, that is until he leaves his life behind and goes travelling in a very uplifting scene (see video below). Stiller truly shows how versatile he is as an actor and the results are truly incredible.
Kristen Wiig as Cheryl Melhoff. Playing Walter's love interest Cheryl is a character that towards the beginning there is little interaction with she is just always there as someone Walter admires, but never quite has the courage to speak to her. Nevertheless as Wiig's character becomes more integral and plays a bigger role in the film we see more and more of why Kristen Wiig is one of the best actresses going today. She has very few lines and very scenes, but her character seems inherently human, almost like she isn't having to act at all. These aren't characters with huge overarching pasts, they are simple characters, but Wiig seemingly does more than just make her character simple, I don't know how, but if you've seen the film I'm sure you'll agree.
Adam Scott as Ted Hendricks. Scott here plays the new boss at Life magazine. As we see his character come in and see the way he treats all employees at Life including Walter, you can't help but hate him. This is a true testament to Scott's incredible acting abilities. It really reminds me of his character in Step Brothers (a polar opposite of his extremely lovable Ben Wyatt in Parks and Recreation), as a character you just can't help but not like. That is the whole purpose of his character at the end of the day, someone has to be the bad guy, and Scott is that guy, and hats off to him - he does it really well.
This movie is rated PG. Here’s why:
Language/Crude Comments
Action Violence
Fun fact: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty marks Ben Stiller's 6th time behind the camera directing a film, others include Tropic Thunder and Zoolander. Most of the film was shot in Iceland and the locals were so willing to participate in the films production that a townhouse in an Icelandic town was painted black purely for this film. This film has been in production for many years with Sacha Baron Cohen originally lined up to star as Walter Mitty. This film is loosely based on the 1939 classic short story by James Thurber of the same name, and this isn't the first The Secret Life of Walter Mitty film either, there was a 1947 film of the same name starring Danny Kaye as Walter, which too sees him caught up in an adventure of a lifetime.
Something I loved: Iceland. Just Iceland. Due to how much I love this film I have watched lots of behind the scenes stuff, read lots of articles and such about this film. Therefore, I know that basically any scene that doesn't take place in New York was shot in Iceland. Greenland and the Himalayas scenes were both shot in Iceland, and believe it or not the scenes that take place in Iceland were shot in Iceland too, who would've guessed! Again being a sad Geographer and someone with severe wanderlust Iceland is one of the most remarkable countries on earth. It truly is awe-inspiringly beautiful, the landscapes, the coasts, the cliffs, the towns, the mountains, the glaciers, the valleys, the countless waterfalls, all truly beautiful. It's not difficult to see why they chose to shoot a film guaranteed to make any traveler jealous in one of the most beautiful countries on earth. In particular the longboard scene (see below) is one that shows off Iceland's beauty as he looks down the valley to the town below, then proceeds to longboard down a beautifully winding road seeing waterfalls and showing off the valley as he goes. After watching The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty I became obsessed with Iceland, before watching it I didn't know much about Iceland other than their Geothermal energy production, but because of this film it went straight to the top of my travel bucket list where it still remains to this day, I'm yet to go but one day I will, at least I hope so! I too know I am not the only one who has found this with Iceland, like I said earlier there are many Instagram accounts and YouTube videos of people who have traveled to Iceland to do it 'Walter Mitty style'. This is where my love of the earth and films cross over, the top two countries on my bucket list are Iceland, with thanks to The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and New Zealand which I have Taika Waititi's stunning Hunt for the Wilderpeople to thank for that. This may not have been a huge release film, it's possible you've never heard of it, but it has inspired so many not least to travel the world and to Iceland but also just generally uplifted them with its beautiful quotes and the sense that you can do anything you want, at the end of the day Walter traveled the world to find a picture, you can do anything you put your mind to.
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