Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.5

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Blu-ray Movie Review

Not your father's (or in my case, mother's) James Thurber.

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 13, 2014

One of the side benefits of being born to parents who are probably a bit too old to be having children is being raised with a greater awareness of cultural treasures of past generations. I have long joked that I was my parents’ mid-life crisis, except for the fact that they actually had me at an age that was arguably at least somewhat past their midlives. My upbringing was filled with things like swing era big band music and films like Gone with the Wind not because they had any perceived hipster cred but simply because my parents had grown up with them. Though I seriously doubt any of my friends with younger parents even knew who he was, James Thurber was a regular part of my childhood because he had long been one of my mother’s favorite authors and, especially, cartoonists. My mother actually had an original lithograph of one of Thurber’s typically insouciant cartoons which hung in my childhood home, a one panel piece (as was Thurber’s custom) of two guys fencing, where one has decapitated the other and marked the occasion with a hilariously understated, “Touché!” Long before Keith Olbermann used to regale his Friday viewers with regular readings from Thurber, my mother would often bring out a Thurber volume (she had lots) and deign to entertain us (no, really) with a spoken out loud Thurber tale, and that indeed is how I first became acquainted with the sweet if slight The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. Walter’s hyperactive imagination became the source material for a well received (at least by the public if not by James Thurber himself) if not entirely faithful film adaptation which starred Danny Kaye, and that version was broadcast enough on television during my youth that I also became quite enamored of it. Ben Stiller’s “remake” of the Kaye film ventures even further from its source material than the first version did, and while it’s definitely a grander, even more spectacular, take on Thurber than might be expected, some may argue that this new iteration doesn’t come close to the tone and substance of the Thurber original.

The Thurber short story was an unapologetically whimsical set of vignettes where a mild mannered husband (a Thurber staple) imagine different scenarios where he assumed different, more viscerally exciting, roles like a bomber pilot or a world famous surgeon. Thurber often championed (if that’s the right word) the “little man” in American society, with that term being appropriate both literally and figuratively. Thurber’s “heroes” were usually slight, inconsequential and almost always completely under the thumbs of their harridan wives. Virtually none of this particular sentiment made it to the 1947 film with Danny Kaye, and most certainly even less of it matriculates to Ben Stiller’s reboot, and in fact both of the movies posit Mitty as a single man working at a magazine who chases after a dream girl. In the Kaye version, Walter’s imaginary girlfriend suddenly walks into his life one day and involves him in a real life adventure, while in Stiller’s formulation, she’s a co-worker whom Walter pines for, both in “real life” as well as an initial series of brief—sometimes momentary— vignettes.

Steve Conrad’s adaptive screenplay almost immediately sidelines (if not completely abandons) the daydream conceit to get this Walter (Ben Stiller) involved in an unlikely scenario where he attempts to track down a globetrotting photographer named Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) who has sent Walter, a staff worker in the photographic department of Life Magazine, a bunch of negatives, one of which Sean insists will be the perfect image to adorn the last print edition of the magazine, which in this world is about to transition to an online only status. Unfortunately, the package Sean has sent to Walter does not contain this negative, and even more unfortunately, Sean has let the magazine management, including snarky “transition” expert Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott), know about the photo, putting Walter on the hot seat to come up with it. Meanwhile, Walter has been pining after pretty Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig), another Life worker who seems to be relatively better adjusted than Walter (admittedly a pretty low bar), but who also seems to be living a lonely single life.

There are a couple of inherent problems with this approach, and one of them is frankly tied directly to Thurber’s source story. Is it even possible to craft a feature length film out of a rather brief anecdotal tale of a guy who gets lost in daydreams? That was obviously one of the obstacles that Ken Englund, Everett Freeman and Philip Rapp sought to overcome in the first film adaptation, a gambit which Steve Conrad only enlarges in the remake. But Conrad only gives us a precious few minutes with the daydreaming Walter before plunging (again literally) Walter headlong into a series of adventures where Walter “finds” himself, in one of the most time honored, yet obviously cliché ridden, exercises in the annals of screenwriting. The fact that Walter seems to be setting off on what seems to be a somewhat analogous quest to that of Arthur Dent in Douglas Adams’ wonderful The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy to find the meaning of life (or in this case, the meaning of Life) may appear to be a reasonable enough concept, but it’s ultimately divorced from Thurber’s original idea.

While this Walter Mitty may in fact not be that Thurberesque, if taken on its own terms, it’s always enjoyable, if never quite as deep as it seems to be aiming for. Walter has a seemingly pointless journey which only gets him back to where he started, albeit perhaps a bit wiser and more courageous than when he began, but it’s a trek that Stiller imbues with a nice visual sweep and some great little character bits from the likes of Shirley MacLaine (playing Walter’s mother). As Walter, Stiller is probably more in tune with Thurber’s original conception than Kaye was in his version, and the character is certainly sweet and lovable in his own dunderheaded way. Wiig is pretty much consigned to playing the unapproachable dream girl (who of course is anything but unapproachable, it ultimately turns out). She's a type rather than a flesh and blood character, but Wiig manages to invest Cheryl with a surprising amount of heart.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Whatever dramatic (and/or comedic) stumbles this film makes along the way, few are probably going to be complaining about its rather lush visual appearance courtesy of Stiller's nicely nuanced directorial hand and the often gorgeous cinematography of Stuart Dryburgh. While there's some omnipresent color grading going on throughout the film, including lots of that ever popular blue tint, fine detail is rarely mitigated, and in fact this transfer often offers both superb depth of field in outdoor sequences as well as excellent fine detail in close-ups. Contrast is generally very strong as well, easily transitioning between the dark confines of Walter's basement photographic lair at Life to the stormy seas of Iceland to some of the more brightly lit sunscapes that show up later in the film. The only ostensible down side here is the somewhat soft looking CGI which intrudes on a couple of key fantasy sequences. Otherwise, this is a really beautiful presentation that has no compression artifacts of any note and which offers a nicely organic viewing experience.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For what is in essence a supposedly "small scale" character study, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty of course plays out on a global soundstage, and that means that the DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 track offers a wealth of immersive opportunities. This is in fact a perhaps unexpectedly boisterous and involving track, whether that be little quiet moments like the tippy-tap of Walter's computer keyboard in the opening sequence, or more "in your face" (and/or ears) moments like the first real daydream sequence which offers a fantastic burst of LFE when a building explodes, or later, when Walter jumps into some frigid Icelandic water, with the roar of a helicopter overhead and the similarly overwhelming sounds of a large freighter tearing through the water next to him. The entire mix here is beautifully spacious and detailed, with some good use of both source cues and Theodore Shapiro's slightly cloying but still enjoyable underscore. Fidelity is top notch, and dynamic range is incredibly wide.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Deleted, Alternate and Extended Scenes contains sub-menus offering:

  Deleted Scenes (1080p; 7:30)

  Extended Scenes (1080p; 4:33)

  Alternate Scenes (1080p; 3:42)

• Behind the Scenes offers another sub-menu containing:

  The History of Walter Mitty (1080p; 3:39), which has some brief but good background on Thurber and the story.

  The Look of Life (1080p; 5:01) has Stiller and Conrad discussing the film's concept and how Life plays into it.

  That's a Shark! (1080p; 5:57) focuses on the Iceland sequence.

  The Music of Walter Mitty (1080p; 4:01) has some great scenes for you film score geeks (and you know who you are) of Theodore Shapiro recording the score.

  Icelandic Adventure (1080p; 3:26) shows some of the non-water Icelandic sequences being set up.

  Nordic Casting (1080p; 3:51) looks at some of the colorful character performers.

  Titles of Walter Mitty (1080p; 2:49) profiles Kyle Cooper, the title designer.

  Sights and Sounds of Production opens up yet another sub-menu, this one including:

  Skateboarding Through Iceland (1080p; 2:23)

  Ted-Walter Fight (1080p; 2:48)

  Pre-Viz also has a sub-menu, this one containing:

  Ted-Walter Fight Pre-Viz Early Version (1080p; 4:15)

• Gallery: Reference Photography (1080p)


• Music Video: "Stay Alive" by Jose Gonzales (1080p; 4:22)


• Theatrical Trailer (1080p; 1:55)

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This isn't the Walter Mitty I remember from my childhood, but that doesn't necessarily mean that Stiller's film isn't worthwhile. This Secret Life is a bit too obvious in its intent and execution, but it's never less than fun or involving, and Stiller proves to be a very capable director, offering an epic sweep to what is in essence a rather intimate story. The performances are top notch, and this is certainly an impressive technical presentation all around. Recommended.