I LOVED this movie. It was hilarious, moving and overall just such a magical experience. I'm almost certain it will do well and have sensational word of mouth now after seeing it. The entire cast shines - Ben Stiller is so endearing as the lead and Kristen Wiig is just so lovable here. It's a lower key performance than her broader comedic work but she's perfectly cast and I was so charmed by her character. There's a moment near the middle of the movie featuring her singing David Bowie's "Space Oddity" to Stiller that is maybe my favorite movie moment of the year so far. The entire supporting cast is also great and gets at least a scene or two to shine. Sean Penn is fantastic in his brief screentime, Shirley MacLaine and Kathryn Hahn are both great, Patton Oswalt and Adam Scott are both strong - there really isn't a weak link in the cast. It's also so impressively directed - visually it's stunning and I loved the various unique quirks that Stiller implemented, from the opening credits to the way text messages were displayed. The cinematography is sweeping and gorgeous, and the soundtrack is aces as well. It's also a very bittersweet ode to the magazine era and the ending is incredibly effective. It's just such a good-hearted and sweet movie that I have a hard time seeing audiences not responding to it. Screw the cynical critics of various websites that are already bashing it (looking at you IndieWire and The Playlist). Currently my #2 of 2013. A+

I saw a rough cut/test screening of this over the summer. I'd rate it at a solid B; the first act is your typical zany Ben Stiller vehicle (there's a prolonged Benjamin Button homage that feels somewhat out of place) and from there on out it develops into what plays like a really ambitious Cameron Crowe film soaked in magic realism. It's wacky here, somber there, but remains charming throughout.

Ben Stiller is good in the lead role, especially his unrequited romance with Kirsten Wiig. Sean Penn is also fine though his character was a little silly. I never saw this as the award contender it was hyped up to be at one point, but it should go over well with most moviegoers.

Should we really be giving official ratings to test screened films? They haven't been finished yet. (I don't know if thompsoncory saw a finished version or not; this is more for Lafin Atchu.)

Cory saw it last night at the NY festival, which I presume was the finished version.

What's wrong with that? The grade is for the version seen at that time. That doesn't mean that the grade won't change once the person sees the finished version.

It just seems odd to give an official rating to an incomplete, unfinished cut of a film. Can I open up a MALEFICENT Everyone's a Critic thread?

So did you start that question in order to inconspicuously throw in the fact that you have seen Maleficent?

'Course he did.

My thoughts exactly. It's implied that everything I wrote is meant to be taken with a grain of salt.

And while I'm not the one who requested this thread... seeing that it was already here - not to mention there doesn't seem to be an embargo on this movie since official reviews are out - I thought I might as well lend my two ¢ into the discussion.

I saw the final cut at the New York Film Festival last night - the one that critics have been reviewing.

crowd-pleasing

Loved it.

I've known about the project for a while and the hurdles Stiller went to make the film but you can tell throughout the whole film how much fun he had with this and the fun is thrown on to the audience as well. This is definitely one of my favorite Stiller performances and he proves he can be just as strong behind the camera once again. Kristen Wigg is also the best I have seen her in a film and Adam Scott plays off his asshole-ish role well. Penn's scene is quite good as is


It was one of my most anticipated going in and Walter Mitty ends up being one of my favorites of the year.

I really can't understand the negativity some critics are giving this as I feel there at least something someone can enjoy in this film even if they don't love it like I do. Hopefully more reviews lean towards positive like Hollywood Reporter and Variety's have.

This is also going to be a crowd-pleasing hit. My crowd really enjoyed it.

The bad reviews are so unjustified.

Well, I thought it was great and one of the years best movies. I just enjoyed it a lot from beginning to end. Time just flew by. It's funny, heartfelt and just gorgeous to look at. This is one of those movies which I'm going to watch countless times in the years to come. Ben Stiller made a winner here.

My reaction to this film is perhaps a paradox because I am not convinced it achieves its main goal, yet I still admire it a great deal. The story of an introverted, daydreaming photographic archivist who escapes his slow-paced day-to-day routine to go on a worldwide adventure in search of a lost negative intended as the cover of the final print version of Life Magazine, the film is a sentimental and sugarcoated ode to courage, coming out of one's shell, and forming significant bonds with others, but authenticity and humanity are undermined by a production which is very careful, very designed, and very pat. The journey which transforms protagonist Walter into a quote-unquote superior human being (from emasculated nerd to quietly confident borderline mystic) is such a vivid and overtly engineered spectacle, it is hard to imagine anyone relating to or drawing inspiration from his character arc.

However, I still found the overall experience rewarding and hard to turn away from, particularly when viewed as a high-concept, sealed-universe comedy in the vein of (though obviously not on par with) Playtime or the more recent Moonrise Kingdom rather than as a reflection of the real world and the real publishing industry or as a slice-of-life drama. Ben Stiller, always more interesting behind the camera than when he plays the straight man in mainstream comedies such as Night at the Museum or Tower Heist, directs his heart out. Every location (Walter travels to places such as Iceland and Afghanistan) is presented in its full majesty, and every scene is overflowing with crisp shot compositions and playful uses of color and motion. He also uses his actors, himself included, well. Sean Penn has only one full scene as the renegade photojournalist Walter is pursuing in his hunt for the misplaced negative, but it is a real gem and the best use in a long time of the volatile actor's salty and hard-edged, yet soulful presence. And I have to admit the film, despite its lapses into corny nostalgia and general reluctance to hit too hard on an economic or social level, connected with me as a type of comforting elegy for an analog imagination and lifestyle in a digital world.

B+

you summed up my thoughts very well. It has a lot of admirable quirks about it but a few of them don't work. I actually really liked the scene with Sean Penn though. The eHarmony guy thing... I thought it was kinda funny but weird. Actually the more I think about the movie the more I like it.

Color me surprised. I wasn't looking forward to this one at all. In fact, the only reason I ended up seeing it today was because my best friend and I were having a movie date and this was one of the only movies playing that I haven't seen. Ben Stiller was wonderful. In fact, I'd go as far as saying he deserves an Oscar nomination. Just a flat out wonderful performance. Kristen Wiig was also very good here and the film works best with it is her and Stiller on screen together. They have a wonderful, natural chemistry. For the first 70 minutes or so, it was easily one of my favorite movies of the year. I will say though once Walter went to the Appalachians it hit a bit of a rough patch. The entire sequence kind of dragged the movie way down for me. Once he got back to New York City it picked up again though. Still, it is a great little movie with great performances, wonderful direction and purely beautiful cinematography. One of the most underrated movies this year. See it.

8/10

The Appalachians, eh?

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY

I have not seen the original film, but I found this film to be absolutely wonderful. The creative visuals from the opening credits to the fight sequence in the city were cool. I loved the stunt work like the skateboard sequence. The development of such an interesting story on a missing negative was well done and kept my interest from beginning to end. I thought Stiller did a great job in the role and the supporting cast as well from Maclaine and Wiig. I also loved the use of music in the film as well. I have to fit this in my top 10 somehow. I loved it. Overall, I would definitely watch this again.

Grade - A

The Life Of Walter Mitty is genuinely offbeat for a big studio picture...

...and damned if it didn't cast it's blissful spell over me.

I'm filming the life of Bradley Witherberry in my head right now!


51 out of 5.

I wasn't feeling the first 30 minutes at all, Walter's real life/work felt so strangely alien and hollow, that the departure to dreamland wasn't a big enough leap to hit the point.

However once he gets to Greenland it becomes a different, more down to earth movie and a great one. Agree with the Cameron Crowe-lite reference mentioned in this thread. Walter's immediate leap to being daring enough to jump out of helicopters or climb mountains is believable because of Stiller's performance, which is one of his best. The film treats being earnest as more important than being funny, which I liked.

Nice film

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a dreamer. At age 40 he hasn't really done anything or been anywhere particularly exciting and frequently fantasizes about a life less mundane. He works as a negative assets manager at Life Magazine, keeping track of the photographs that are used in the magazine while secretly crushing on a co-worker (Kristen Wiig). One day Walter receives a package of negatives from photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), but one of the negatives is missing (#25). When it's announced the upcoming issue will be the last and #25 is to be the cover, Walter sets out on a cross-country adventure to find Sean and recover the missing negative.

“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” is the second film adaptation of the 1939 short story by James Thurber (the first was released in 1947). I'm not familiar with either of these so I'm unsure how it compares to them, but, while flawed, there's really a lot to admire about this version.

First off, the cinematography is really beautiful. The sweeping shots of the landscapes of Iceland are a real treat for the eyes. Visually the film is fairly stunning. The performances are very good as well. Ben Stiller, pulling double duty as star and director, is quite likeable in the lead role. Kristen Wiig is incredibly endearing as Walter's love interest. Stiller and Wiig share an effortless chemistry and their scenes together are the best parts of the film. One smile-generating scene featuring Walter imagining her serenading him with David Bowie's “Space Oddity” as he boards a helicopter is the highlight.

Now, what prevents the film from being great is that this story of seizing the moment never feels as inspiring as it should. It's a worthwhile message but underneath the gorgeous production values it really feels kind of empty. On a technical level the film is top-notch, and there are moments of near-greatness, but for all of its ambition it comes up short. I feel like there was a great film here waiting to get out. As is it's a sweet, minor effort that never feels larger-than-life. I did like the film though. It's mostly entertaining and its heart is in the right place. But it's somewhat frustrating when you can see it had the potential to be more.

7/10 (B-)

It's pleasant and enjoyable but the film is just missing a spark that allows it to transcend above average. Beautiful scenery? Yes. Solid performances from Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig? Yes. Heartwarming? Yes. But the storyline is sort of flat. B-