The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

FLIX!

Ben Stiller directs and stars in this updated fine adaptation of a James Thurber short story.

Walter Mitty is one of those transparent men that seem to blend into the woodwork. He occupies an office space deep in the bowels of the Time-Life Building in New York, and he has an over-active imagination because he's never really done anything in life. He one of those little guys who goes to work and goes home, with a weekly trip to the grocery store and that is the essence of his entire life.

And then an odd set of circumstances occur and Walter finds himself in a series of real life adventures taking him to Greenland, Iceland, the Himalayas and beyond. Even LA! During the course of trying to track down exotic photographer Sean O'Connell, Walter gets flown in a helicopter with a seriously drunk pilot, dropped in the ocean, nearly gets eaten by sharks, and on and on it goes. (And by the way the scenery in this movie is stunningly beautiful.) Walter is on a quest, and all the while he pines for a woman he works with. In fact in Iceland, a flock of birds form her face in the sky as they fly away.

Discretion won't allow me to reveal lots of details about this wonderful, exquisite film, but let me just say this. I didn't want to like this movie. I didn't really want to even go to the movies tonight. For my money there was nothing to see. But my wife was insistent so always one to want to keep her happy, we narrowed it down to '47 Ronin' or 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.' Out of respect for James Thurber, I pushed for the latter. Man, I'm glad I did. This was a treat.

If you are expecting a whacky, screwball comedy because of the name Ben Stiller, boy are you gonna be disappointed. But if you have half a brain, you'll be delighted and pleasantly surprised. This is a terrific, smart movie that I hope Ben Stiller will be judged by way beyond 'Dodgeball' 'Zoolander' and such. Not that those weren't good for what they were, but this is a special film and it tells me that Ben Stiller wants to sit at the grown-ups table. Ben pull up a chair....right over there between Ron Howard and Woody Allen.

Grade: A