In Defence of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'

By writing a defence of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, I'm not saying that I moderately enjoyed watching this movie and think audiences were a little too hard on it: I love this movie, I have unapologetically included it on my favourite films of all time list. I don't think this is just a personal gem or "guilty pleasure," I think this movie holds a wealth of value that audiences have failed to see. Am I saying it is a perfect movie? Absolutely not. I admit, there are many problems with the execution of this film, but that's part of what makes this film so endearing: It is deeply flawed; just like every person you have ever loved, but that doesn't stop you from loving them, does it?

Ben Stiller directed this movie and he plays the title character, Walter Mitty, a LIFE Magazine employee with a mundane job of processing photographic negatives. Near the beginning of the film, Walter learns that LIFEhas been acquired and is downsizing from a print magazine to an online publication. After loosing the negative needed to process the final publication's cover photo, Walter is forced to get on a plane, fly to Greenland and find the magazine's most renowned photographer, Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn). Sounds far-fetched I know, but hear me out.

The first act of the film focuses on Walter and his mundane job as a negative asset manager at LIFE. Which sounds boring but Stiller plays up the dorkyness and awkwardness in a very endearing and comedic way. The first act also frequently breaks into these action packed daydream sequences which may seem out of place but I would argue that they work to the film's advantage. The purpose of these sequences is not to serve as attention grabs in an otherwise dull first act (the relate-ability and subtle comedic beats work wonders to engage us), these daydream sequences are there to change the tone. Each of Walter's day dreams are a dramatic shift in the tone of the movie, that way when Walter gets on that plane to Greenland, the tone of the movie completely changes and the movie actually gets away with it. Not very many movies can get away with being blatantly tonally inconsistent. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty does.

Visually, the film is phenomenal. I applaud Stiller and his VFX team for choosing to minimize CGI and shoot as much of the film in camera as possible. The results are stunning: Almost every shot in the film is perfectly composed, photographically.

There is one thing you will have to accept about this movie; it isn't a realistic movie. Most of the events in this movie would never happen in real life. But so what? Do you go to see movies about what happens in real life? No. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a movie that explores life in an exaggerated and almost abstract way.

The way I see it, every two-dimensional character is a representation of people we all know, or at least follow on Instagram: the misunderstanding boss, the perfect love interest, the gritty, adventurous photographer we long to be, and the person we all feel like at times; awkward and bored of our mundane life.

Perhaps the abstractness is part of why people had such deep bones to pick with this movie. To explore the concept of life in an abstract way sounds like a job for Christopher Nolan, not Ben Stiller. This film isn't even close to the complexity of a Christopher Nolan film, instead, it has a simple message that is articulated clearly yet never feels preachy. Perhaps the combination of simplicity and abstractness didn't sit well with people, but if you can get past that, you may just may love this movie like me.

Now let me state a radical opinion, this may seem out there and like a wild viewpoint but, Ben Stiller is allowed to make a feel-good movie. If he wants the movie to be abstract and not blatantly comedic, he is allowed to make that movie.He doesn't have to spend the rest of his life making comedies if he doesn't want to.This film was obviously a passion project for Stiller and his passion is evident in every moment of the film.

I love the way the first act plays with mundanity in a whimsical, comedic way. It may not be realistic but let me ask you this, do you want to watch a movie about mundanity that portrays mundane life in a realistic way? I don't, that sounds like the most boring movie ever. As the first act explores mundanity, the second act is an adventure story and the third act ties them together as Walter and the audience learn that everyday life can be an adventure too. Or, as Sean Penn's character puts it: "Beautiful things don't ask for attention."

Please give this movie a chance.