The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

A light-hearted and optimistic movie about the “quintessence of life" which entertains in an non-intrusive manner so rare today, even managing to intimate some wisdom about life. Stiller has grown a little still as a director and the polished visuals are amazingly pleasant to the eye. Like a nature documentary without annoying explanatory digressions. Eyjafjallajokull. (30/03/2014)

At first I was unpleasantly surprised by Walter's ideas, as they seemed too awkward, unnecessarily gimmicky and not very imaginative and funny (the fight with the superior was a pain), which is not true of his Spanish polar explorer. Fortunately, the script soon pulled the trigger, and Walter went on a real outstanding journey, where the special effects made sense, the pace slowed down, and the atmosphere became nicer. So Ben Stiller (thanks also to David Bowie) made it in the end. He made one of those films that makes you, who has hardly been anywhere in your life, think how beautiful it would be if it all worked like that in real life and smile with satisfaction. And the best scene for me will always be the fight under the X-ray. (05/07/2015)

In addition to virtual relationships, in the introduction Stiller also cautiously raises a middle finger to corporate capitalism, which strips people of their individuality and transforms individuals into pawns who are willing to do anything to hold on to their jobs. A person’s own body – or rather mind – thus becomes his or her last refuge. The liberating power of the imagination allows one to at least dream of doing noble deeds worthy of great romantic heroes, who were long ago displaced from reality and put into epic Hollywood fairy tales. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is not ashamed to admit that it is itself such a fairy tale whose message justifies its numerous spectacular scenes. The second half of the film is made up of a series of stirring adventure stories whose aesthetic concept is consciously inspired by magazine covers, since Walter escapes from his daily routine into photographs from prestigious magazines. Though the special-effects sequences blur the line between dream and reality to such an extent that the difference becomes irrelevant (instead of creating a certain tension), they also gently complement the characteristics of the main protagonist. Even though the romantic subplot seems superfluous on the surface and the film may seem like a self-improvement handbook for men who don’t know what to do with their lives, other people (his girlfriend, Sean O'Connell, his mother and, indirectly, even his deceased father) directly and indirectly support Walter in his solo adventures and compel him to continue in them throughout the film. In the current “contactless” era, a very welcome feature of this film is its effort to convince viewers not to live only in the virtual world and to not be afraid to realise their dreams, to not be selfish and to not stop thinking of others even in the most difficult moments (due to which the film seems more conformist than the roughly similar anarchistic action flick Wanted). Walter Mitty demonstrates that Stiller is able to suppress his eccentric comic nature in favour of a relatively serious idea. However, that seriousness is fortunately never taken so far that the film would completely step outside the realm of feel-good entertainment for the big screen and for the whole family. With the benefit of hindsight and in all seriousness, I wouldn’t hesitate to call Walter Mitty the most positive movie surprise of last year. 85% (13/01/2014)

A cute Hollywood family fairy tale with laudable intentions, an outrageously likeable soundtrack and a great Ben Stiller in the cute leading role, but dramaturgically it’s strangely disjointed, unconvincing and dumbed down, exploring the imaginary border of fantasy and reality through the lens of a filmmaker who apparently can't decide which side to lean towards... The message is admittedly beautifully positive, but it can't make up for the awkward first impression. 65% (26/01/2014)

Forrest Gump two decades later, with all the good and bad that can be associated with it. We have again a barrage of all those scents, images and emotions about the search for oneself, but in a slightly more modern and refined guise. Yet the final impression is somewhat brought down by the duplication and unoriginality, which may not be so noticeable in the whole as such, but in the details it certainly is, and by mental maturity. After all, it is too straightforward and childishly naive at times. The older Stiller gets, the more mature, therefore the better. (19/11/2017)