It’s in these moments of travel that the landscape becomes as much of a character as any that the actor’s are portraying. They really bring us into Walter’s journey as he is reminded that sometimes, life can truly be more incredible than any fantasy. This is where the movie truly shines – sweeping shots of scenery that are some of the best I’ve ever seen in a film. While the movie was not shot in most of these places, Iceland is used as a fantastic stand-in for most of them. This journey takes Walter from New York to Greenland, Iceland, Yemen and the Himalayas in Afghanistan. That said, the movie really takes off when Walter is convinced by his love interest, Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig) to chase down the elusive Sean and solve the mystery of the missing negative. Fantasy is a fantastic way to deal with the sometimes boredom and frustration of working an office job (especially during long stints between travel). It’s a mechanism to cope with the boredom that can stem from routine. Most of the criticism for the movie was about Walter’s absurd fantasies, but quite frankly, I related to them quite a bit. ![]() We all have fantasies where we’re better looking or more athletic or just generally more interesting that we really are. Walter’s daydreams, while extreme for some people, are something that we can all relate to on some level. ![]() I bought a copy as soon as it came out and have watched it several times since. Reviews for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty were pretty mixed when it came out, but Kim and I saw it in theaters and it flew to the top of my list as one of my favorite movies of all time. The missing negative sends Walter on a globe-spanning journey to track down the elusive photographer, Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) who took it, so Walter can ask him why the photo wasn’t included in the negative roll he sent and where it might be. This particular negative was intended to be the cover shot for the final print issue of Life. That is, until a very important negative comes up missing. ![]() Walter is seen as a space case, but is generally liked and very reliable when it comes to managing Life‘s photo assets. The monotony of maintaining this stability leads Walter to frequently daydream imagining incredible scenarios where he is the hero… or at least one of the most interesting people on the planet. Nothing went according to Walter’s boyhood plans, but everything is routine and stable. Since the death of his father at a young age, he has been the responsible one in the family. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty tells the story of a reserved Negative Assets Manager, Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), working for Life magazine as it goes through an acquisition that will see most of its staff “downsized” in its transition to an online-only format.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |