THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY – Little Man, Big Imagination!
Cineworld had another secret screening. There were the usual Facebook and Twitter clues and the 12a rating on the tickets. They also had arranged for an advanced screening of the film on Monday 2nd December 2013 so this through me off the trail that it could be ‘The Secret Life of Walter Mitty‘.
First a little bit of info on the film. Walter Mitty was a fictional character that first appeared in the New Yorker magazine in 1939. Mitty comes from Mittyesque which denotes an ineffectual person who spends more time in heroic daydreams than paying attention.
He daydreams of a life of escapism and an anonymous life by disappearing into a world of fantasies where he is the romantic and action hero. His job and those of his co-workers are under attack and he takes action in the real world where he embarks on a global journey which turns into an extraordinary adventure that is beyond his wildest imagination.
I walked out of the film not knowing how to score the movie or what to say really. I had felt a little cheated by Cineworld. When I say cheated I mean that in the way that if this wasn’t a secret or an advanced screening, I probably would have passed up the chance to go and see it. The title isn’t very catchy, and neither does it make you feel like it would be worth sitting in a movie theatre watching.
I am sure we are all a little like Walter – we daydream of bigger things and things happening to us where we are the hero, romantic and lots of things happening to us, rather than just existing from day-to-day in a big big world.
I think I will score it 3.5 out of 5.
I did like the film. It was well told and the cinematography was amazing. I am just not sure that it would have been one I would have watched on the big screen and it’s not going to be that memorable either among the big blockbusters like ‘Gravity‘, ‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire‘ and ‘The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug‘.
If you are not a big Ben Stiller fan then you probably won’t enjoy this, but don’t let that put you off. Stiller directs the film and does this well. He is actually quite sweet as Mitty. Shirley McClaine is brilliant as his mother, and Sean Penn is great for the rough ten minutes you see him on screen. Kirsten Wigg is just brilliant as ever. Adam Scott is brilliant too however that beard along with luscious landscapes will all that will be remembered.
You will laugh throughout the film and you will feel like you want to be Walter. Iceland and Greenland look amazing as well as the snow leopard in the Himalayas.
If you are looking for a film that is about pure escapism, because that is what your soul needs, then I recommend this over anything else that is currently showing in your movie theatre.
Opens in cinemas 26th December, 2013
Review by Mark ‘LEGOBear’ MacKenzie
