All good things come to those who are patient and are able to wait. It has been five years since Ben Stiller, the world famous comedian known for several blockbuster franchises, directed a film. His new project The Secret Life of Walter Mitty made its World Premiere as the centrepiece in the Main Slate of the 51st New York Film Festival in 2013. The movie will be available for public and hit the world’s theatres on 25th of December, 2013.
The film is based on a short story written by James Thurber, which saw its first publication in The New Yorker daily magazine in 1939. This amazing short novel takes two-and-a-half pages and it has become a big part of the culture and inspired the directors of the cinema industry to shoot this fantastic movie.
To accompany Stiller on this great adventure, he invited the most talented cast and crew. Sean Penn and Shirley McClaine, the Academy Award winners top the main cast together with Kristen Wiig, the SNL alumnus, Adam Scott and Patton Oswalt as the main support. To make the short story to be enough for the movie length, Stiller worked with the screenplay written by Steven Conrad. Stuart Dryburgh,a cinematographer and Academy Award nominee was chosen to lens the film on every shooting location, along with Theordore Shapiro, a talented composer, who was picked to create the score. To see famous Hollywood star dealing with serious life’s obstacles and heartburning, really deserves a bow and a round of applause.
Ben Stiller plays the main character named Walter, who is very manageable, a good friend, and a man who is proud of his job as the photo editor in the Life Magazine. He is also an incredible dreamer and believer who plunges into his created imaginary world full of heroic actions and scenes in which he saves the life and gets the attention of the co-worker he likes very much but he can barely speak to her in reality. When a new team of corporate bosses buy out the publication, a legendary and brilliant photographer, played by Sean Penn, delivers Walter with the photo negative which is to be considered as the perfect picture for the final cover, but the picture goes missing. Walter dares to embark on a worldwide adventure to find the photographer and gain that negative back. This courageous step which Walter took becomes the beginning of self-discovery journey and an implementation of his most desired wishes.
From a very short and written long ago story, Ben Stiller has created an inspiring, sweet, daring, challenging comedy and breath-taking love story. This story will make every person to believe in its own strengths and face it buried fears. Spend Christmas day with your loved ones by watching this magical movie.
Ben Stiller is one of my favorite actors, but his last movies were almost all so so bad… I’m looking forward to see this new one; I heard it is good!
Many movies today leave a lot to be desired, but this was not one of them. Walter Mitty, an unassuming man in an unassuming life, finds his life in the “zone outs” or daydreams of what his life could be like. But when an opportunity occurs, he takes the chance and actually experiences life.
So many movies these days promise, and to a lesser degree deliver, to transport us and show us adventure, whether in an other time or space, but this is the first I have seen in a long time that transports us to the possible – to the real world and all its beauties. But still at the heart of it all, Walter is on a journey to find himself, and in the end, does just that.
This is probably Ben Stiller’s best movie to date. Only slightly campy at times, and full of wonder and real moments. If you have seen the original, this is a far cry from it. Despite sharing the title and some of the details, this movie is filled with more heart than many I have seen.
In all, I give this 9/10 stars and recommend it heartily.
Looks like a good film that I’m looking forward to seeing. Thanks!