In the modern age of office jobs and grey horizons dawning over city streets, it is often easy to feel trapped or stuck or difficult to communicate, and with the chaos raging all around, it is easy to feel like Walter Mitty. This title character has been described in the twentieth century and beyond as the quintessential introvert. Quiet and shy, Walter gazes at life instead of moving with it, afraid of the risk and outcome of any endeavor. This incredible inner strife leads to an amazingly filmed spectacle, but not with out some major hitches.

Walter Mitty is directed by the talented Mr. Ben Stiller, his fifth mainstream film where he’s sat in the director’s chair. Others have included Tropic Thunder, The Cable Guy and Zoolander[. Stiller has brought his own taste and feel to the movie as any great director would, but his efforts seem to contradict each other much of the time. At some points he is able to create true works of art, while at others, his efforts come off as shaky and nervous, perhaps due to his presence on screen as well as filming.

Although the movie is incredibly well shot, there is something stuck in my psyche of great annoyance about it. The only problem throughout the movie seems to be somewhat stitched into the plot. Here’s how the movie works: Walter Mitty works in producing film photographs taken by Sean O’Connell, Life‘s photographer. When the crowning achievement to the photographer’s work doesn’t show, Walter must travel around the world to track him, and it, before the last issue is sent out. Those are the basics, but a problem arises as those basics play out. When Walter is  in any other part of the world besides Manhattan the movie, not just Walter but the entire movie, is energetic and fun and enlightening. However, once Walter arrives in his hometown, excluding the beautifully filmed first ten minutes or so, the movie falls flat and becomes a generic tale of a dreamer falling for a woman he can’t seem to talk to.

It sounds odd (it was even a bizarre feeling as I watched it in the theater) but the entire movie seems to flatten and almost collapse when Walter is away from seeing the world; not in the sense that this life is supposed to be dull compared to the other, but the tone shifts from monumental to downright dry and awkward, affecting everything from the characters  to the pace. This is not helped by the movie’s odd insistence on trying to throw humor into the dull bits either…it simply makes the situation seem stranger and even less realistic. I know that doesn’t sound right somehow, and I still can’t entirely grasp the concept myself, but I do believe the feeling to be there, and it detracted greatly from the wonderful movie of Walter’s adventures.

With the stranger problem aside though, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty  has something I’ve never seen to this extent in any other movie: Cinematography. The locations Walter visits to retrieve the photography (Iceland, Greenland, and the Himalayas) are teeming with natural beauty and wonder literally beyond compare to anything else on the screen, especially in the modern era. This sharp contrast highlights the nature of Walter and his progression in society from the opening to the ending credits in a spectacular way, and leaves the viewer with awe-inspiring eye-candy as a nice addition.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty  is a great movie with a great soundtrack and even (you have to see it for yourself) some of the most interesting opening credits to kick off a film. Despite an odd flaw I personally experienced, I would highly recommend seeing Walter as soon as you can. Nothing will compare to seeing this movie on the big screen–it is worth every penny.     7.5/10