Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn), Cheryl (Kristen Wiig), Shirley MacLaine (Walter’s mom), Ben Stiller (Walter Mitty)

 

THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY is a beautifully shot and well directed movie, but I feel it could have used a better cast lead and a better script.  It happens during the days when Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) finds out that LIFE Magazine will be producing its last print issue before transitioning to online only.  He goes on the quest to find a missing negative that elusive photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) wants to have on the cover of the last issue of LIFE.   Also Walter dreams of connecting with co-worker Cheryl as his journey takes him from New Jersey to Greenland to Iceland to Afghanistan and home again.   On the way, he is bugged by phone calls from Todd at eHarmony.  It is a great movie for one watch.  I just don’t think it is worth a rewatch too soon and the deleted and extended scenes pointed at a movie that could have been better.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

5 deleted scenes, two extended scenes, and two alternate scenes (15 minutes total)

 

BEHIND THE SCENES:

THE HISTORY OF WALTER MITTY- a quick history of the short story and the two films based on the short story including the first adaptation starring Danny Kaye (which the author of the short story hated)

THE LOOK OF LIFE- creating the office of LIFE to look like how they were in the 1950s and 1960s

THAT’S A SHARK- talk about using as much practical elements as possible for the film

THE MUSIC OF WALTER MITTY- discussion of the music of the film

ICELANDIC ADVENTURE- using Iceland to double as Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan while trying to shoot as much as they can with the amount of the time they had

NORDIC CASTING- a look at the various screen tests for the actors cast for supporting roles for the scenes filmed in Iceland

TITLES OF WALTER MITTY- discussion of the development and look of the main title sequence

SIGHT AND SOUNDS OF PRODUCTION- SKATEBOARDING THROUGH ICELAND/ TED-WALTER FIGHT

PRE-VIZ of an early version of the Ted-Walter fight in animatic form with some storyboard art

 

Gallery of Reference Photography- 12 images

Music Video: Stay Alive by Jose Gonzalez

Theatrical trailer

 

The film in standard definition on DVD.

 

Digital HD Ultraviolet Copy of the film.

 

FINAL ANALYSIS:  THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY is a wonderful movie to look at, but it could have used a better lead and script despite the enjoyment I got from watching it one time.

 

This review is ©4-18-2014 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to feedback@enterline-media.com

 

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