THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY (2013 Film)

Posted: 12/27/13 at 2:32pm

Has anyone seen this new adaptation of James Thurber's short story?

I love the original story and the musical version, and enjoy the Danny Kaye film, but I'm somewhat wary about this new version. It seems to have used the already very different 1947 movie as a springboad for a more inspirational take on the story and character.

If you have seen it, what did you think?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 3:02pm

I saw it last night. I remember not being able to get through the original when I was a little kid.

I don't think any of the billion white male directors making English language films comes close to what Stiller does with his take on middle-aged existential crises. As an actor, well, nobody touches what he does in Greenburg mode, and this is a further evolution of that.

The cinematography is GORGEOUS, there are breathtakingly composed shots, one involving a water fountain took my breath away. Overall, I am not sure the movie left me totally satisfied, I am tired of successful actresses playing "the girlfriend," but it IS an achievement, and well worth seeing. I may end up seeing it again, because there is real substance there and Stiller is a vastly underrated director.

[StockardFan]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 3:52pm

Thanks, Namo! I want to see this for sure.

[strummergirl]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 4:44pm

I think Stiller is a really underrated director. He's had flops and work that seems most used for nostalgia goggles but I love Zoolander and Tropic Thunder and am interested to see him in this territory. People seemed mixed but I think it's important that he take this step as an actor-director.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 5:01pm

They ran the original movie on TCM last night, and just like Namo, I couldn't get through it. I don't think I ever saw it as a child, though. I probably shouldn't have tried to watch it again because I was using it (potentially) as a primer to see the remake. It sort of talked me out of going, unfortunately.

Now I may take a chance, based on your comments. I'm intrigued. If nothing else, I'll rent it for sure.

[DAME]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 5:04pm

I couldn't sit thru the original either. I just got the screener. Namo;ok to watch at home or do I need to go to the theater?

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 7:12pm

I agree completly with Namo. The cinematography is beautiful and at times quite witty. Some of the location scenes are places in the world that haven't been shown that often on screen. I didn't know he directed it, so now I am more impressed. The story itself is okay. But the film, the way it is shot, far outweighs the script. Dame, if you really want to see it, i would go to a theatre with a big screen.

[ArtMan]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 7:12pm

Oops...double post.
Updated On: 12/27/13 at 07:12 PM

Posted: 12/27/13 at 7:22pm

Interesting to hear how many people couldn't get through the original movie. I've only seen it once, but I enjoyed it for what it was: an absolutely absurd piece of 40's fluff. It bears almost no resemblance to the original story and was despised by James Thurber for the liberties they took with his character. It was completely written for Danny Kaye to showcase his talents and was a huge hit at the time, but it hasn't aged particularly well. The songs are especially out of place.

This new version seems to have transposed a few elements of the former film, including the deletion of his wife, the prominent placement of his mother and Mitty's job at a publishing company. It does sound like it was more successful, though.

If anyone has read the original story, does it bear any resemblance to it, or does it just use the general concept of a middle-aged dreamer with a hum-drum life as a springboard for a very different story, much like the other film did?

[Addison D.]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 7:42pm

I'm tempted to play the angry curmudgeon here, lamenting the fact that the priceless James Thurber story is, once again, being trampled on by Hollywood Visigoths, but I do think that Ben Stiller is a Man of many gifts and I confess to being curious to see what he does with this film.

You can download--free of charge--a copy of Stiller reading the Thurber original at Audible.com. It's a gem well worth 15 minutes of your time.




Audible download

Updated On: 12/27/13 at 07:42 PM

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 8:05pm

Interesting to read positive takes on the film. I'd only read mixed to extremely negative reviews of it elsewhere (Metacritic has it at 54% btw http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-secret-life-of-walter-mitty) so had dropped it off my radar, but Namo's review makes me curious to give it a shot.

Posted: 12/27/13 at 8:23pm

I must confess that I too am a bit in the "curmudgeon" mindset in regards to this movie. I feel that the inspirational route won't be true to Thurber's original intent and that having Mitty go on such an extravagant adventure (as depicted in the advertisements) might defeat the purpose of the original story. Of course this is all assumption, having not seen the film yet.

It's nice to hear that the cinematography is well done. I feel like a lot of movies today go for a very bland lifeless look with very little color or vibrancy.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 8:32pm

When I was watching the TCM introduction for the original film last night, they mentioned that Thurber hated the film adaptation, especially the musical numbers, but actually everything, even Danny Kaye.

Sounds like PL Travers had nothing on James Thurber.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 8:54pm

I'm all for strong cinematography--especially in films, but even the most stunning camera-work can't keep me from being skeptical about a film that alleges to be an adaptation of 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' in which the character of Walter's wife has been "deleted".

The very essence of Walter Mitty is that his heroic, "secret" life is borne of his impotent frustration in the face of his indomitable, commandeering wife. Her voice both propels him into his fantasy and anchors him to reality, dragging him back from the clouds to his humble, cowed seat next to her. Without Mrs. Mitty, Walter is just a guy who daydreams, and the story's place in Thurber's brilliant, sardonic and epic tale--told in prose, verse and pen & ink illustration--of the War of the Sexes is utterly lost.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 12/27/13 at 8:54pm

double post...

Updated On: 12/27/13 at 08:54 PM

Posted: 12/27/13 at 11:59pm

I wonder what Thurber's thoughts on this new adaptation would be.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 1:02am

I read a collection of Thurber essays this year and they were fantastic and definitely of their era. The one where he makes fun of the way his black servants talk probably wouldn't fly very well at all if dramatized today, especially if it were set in the modern era.

Given that the new Mitty is set in the present day, I don't think the harridan wife or even the "battle of the sexes" would seem very apt or insightful. I would suggest not seeing the movie if the very idea makes one feel curmudgeonly.

[Addison D.]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 3:13am

Regardless of whether the story is set in the past, the present or the future, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is ineffably, inextricably and inherently the story of a Man and his Wife. The "secret" life is a secret kept from his wife. To delete Walter's wife in order to make the story more "contemporary" is like calling your film "King Lear" and making the lead character childless because kids don't test well with your target demographic.

By all means, tell whatever story you care to tell, but why select a very slender source material and then eliminate its essence?

[artscallion]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 8:39am

Thanks for that link, Addison!

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 10:16am

One of the worst film of the year. Desperately wants to be a movie with something big to say but nothing connects. Even Walter Mitty's flights of fancy aren't that fanciful. I really feel that Stiller had no grasp of the material. This movie was too big for him. The best thing about it was the score.
Skip it and go see Her.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 11:12am

Skip it and go see Her.

I can't get excited about Her.

It sounds like a one-gag (or concept) movie. Also, how do you fall in love with an OS? It's a platform for a phone or a tablet or laptop or some other portable device. Nobody just carries around an OS (by itself). At least in the trailer, it looks stupid. And the gag is over and has worn out its welcome before the trailer ends.

#threadjack

Updated On: 12/28/13 at 11:12 AM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 11:58am

I thought HER was one of the most thought provoking and beautiful films of the year and I loved every single frame of it.

You ask how does one fall in love with an OS? Well in this film, in the future, this OS (Samantha) talks and responds like a real person. It's like the show CATFISH where people fall in love with people they've never met and have only ever emailed with or talked to over the phone. The film is disturbing in the sense that it points to society's desire to be as free from human interaction as possible in exchange for doing everything virtually. As Phoenix walks down the street in one scene and sees every single person interacting with their OS, it's no different than when you take a look outside now and everyone you see has their face down in their phone.

But I know that HER won't be for everybody. As the lady who walked out behind me said to her friend while I was still wiping the tears from my face, "Well that was the movie that went on forever".

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 11:59am

I thought HER was fantastic as well. It's a delicate, sweet gem with another remarkable performance from Jaoquin Phoenix.

[ErikJ972]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 12:48pm

Best I felt the same way about Her before I saw it. It ended up being one of my favorite movies of the year. Spike Jonze does way more with a one gag concept than Ben Stiller manages to get out of a movie that should have been epic.

[best12bars]

Posted: 12/28/13 at 12:49pm

I'll take your word that it's well done. It looked derivative and not that compelling in the trailer.

The future sounds very much like a B&W episode of The Twilight Zone starring Wally Cox, called "From Agnes With Love."

http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi970762009/

... mixed with another Twilight Zone episode with Jean Marsh called "The Lonely."

http://www.imdb.com/video/hulu/vi3923486489/?ref_=tt_ov_vi