This movie blindsided me. Gail asked me what I wanted to see, giving me the choice of four films. I ranked them this way: American Hustle, Walter Mitty, Philomena, and Saving Mr. Banks. She disregarded my input somewhat and picked The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty and I ended up loving it. Great flick and proof that I just need to do as Gail says.
Ben Stiller directs and stars in this Thurber classic updated for modern times. He plays Mitty as the dreamy corporate slave who’s been managing film negatives in a dark and dingy basement for Life magazine, which was just bought by a big, soulless company who is going to lay off thousands and convert the magazine to online-only. It worked.
The skateboard angle was a cool mod. The scene with his love interest’s son and the skateboard was well done, only to be bettered about a half hour later with a rad (yeah, rad) skateboard ride down a winding, Icelandic road during a pivotal moment in the movie.
The eHarmony angle was not so cool. It did give us Patton Oswalt I guess, but I could have done without it. Shirley Maclaine killed it as Mitty’s mother. That woman hardly does anything anymore but when she does, it’s solid (think Downton Abbey). I’ll say this: We need Kristen Wiig in more movies. Mark my words, that woman will win an Oscar in my lifetime for best actress. I just feel it.
The ending was a little bit of a letdown. The speech to the bad layoff specialist from the soulless corporation was a little gratuitous, but I guess it had to be there.