The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

An optimistic snack that irradiates energy and peace. All that nonsense that is needed for Walter’s adventure to continue, in connection with this particular film, didn’t bother me at all. What I didn’t like was the utter predictability of the plot, in particular those questions: “where has picture 25 gone?”. The answer will be clear to anyone. And yet, it’s solid, brisk fun that’s nice to watch and makes sense going to the cinema for it. The locations are breathtaking. (27/12/2013)

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)

If Stiller had not tripped himself up so unsportingly immediately during the New York part when Walter’s over the top stories are like something out of Tropical Storm and so completely at odds with the mood and atmosphere that it is trying for (successfully from the moment when they set off on their journey) my impressions would have been much more positive. Even so, this just couldn’t shake off the label of “the movie that tried so hard, but so hopelessly for two hours to achieve what they achieved incomparably better in the first trailer". (17/01/2014)

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)

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)