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Ben Stiller serious, strong as Walter Mitty

  • This film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Ben Stiller in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty." This is Stiller's fifth time directing, but it's his boldest move toward establishing his career behind the camera. The actor-director talks to Associated Press about his Walter Mitty-esque dreams to expand himself as a filmmaker. (AP Photo/20th Century Fox, Wilson Webb)

Written by Steven Conrad, the contemporary rendition, in which Jim Carey was originally supposed to star, sees the real world altered with such wild inflection that it's hard to digest. Visual techniques like interspersing the text of the opening credits into Walter's surroundings, prove to be the most innovative and clever effect of the picture. Luckily, the CGI-marred moments flood only the first 30 minutes of the film, allowing for a loaded, inspiring experience familiar to other serious Conrad works like "The Pursuit of Happyness."

In the new "Mitty," Stiller's Walter works at Life magazine, which is transitioning from print to digital. A brilliantly vexing Adam Scott plays Ted Hendricks, the ringleader of a band of executives who've come to supervise the completion of the last issue and fire a large chunk of the magazine's staff.

In this take, the women aren't nags. Shirley MacLaine, who plays Stiller's mother, Edna, and Kathryn Hahn, who plays his sister, Odessa, are quite pleasant and supportive. It's Ted who acts as the villain. He takes to bullying Walter, who must pin down the negative image for the final issue's cover. Walter consistently spaces out, especially when he's fantasizing about his co-worker, Cheryl (played sweetly by Kristen Wiig).

Unable to locate the image, which was shot by a long-standing Life magazine photographer, Sean O'Connell (an explorer superbly pronounced by Sean Penn), Walter heads to Greenland where he hopes to find Sean and his coveted shot. Once there, Walter jumps out of a helicopter only to be nearly eaten by a shark when landing in the ocean. It's such a heart-pounding experience that even Walter wonders if what he just endured was real. But, alas, Walter's finally having actual adventures, as his capacity for taking risks increases.


As we watch Walter's world open up, we follow his journey across alluring locations like the Himalayas. When we finally meet Sean, who is perched on a mountain waiting for the perfect shot, he speaks to Walter's evolution as he tells him he sometimes prefers to savor his personal moments instead of being distracted by his camera.

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