The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Director: Ben Stiller Ben Stiller

Overview

In this comedic adaptation of James Thurber's short story, Ben Stiller stars as Walter, a milquetoast proofreader for a magazine publishing firm. Walter is constitutionally incapable of standing up for himself, so he retreats into his fantasy world, where he is heroic, poised, self-assured, and the master of his fate. Stiller directed from a script by Steven Conrad, with Kristen Wiig, Patton Oswalt, and Shirley MacLaine rounding out the starring cast.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/15/2014
UPC:	0024543899426
Original Release:	2013
Rating:	PG
Source:	BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:54:00

Special Features

Closed Caption; The look of Life; Sights and sounds of production; The music of Walter Mitty; Still gallery

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Ben Stiller	Walter Mitty,Rich's Friend's Mom
Kristen Wiig	Cheryl Melhoff
Patton Oswalt	Todd
Shirley MacLaine	Edna Mitty
Adam Scott	Ted Hendricks
Kathryn Hahn	Odessa
Sean Penn	Sean O'Connell
Terence Bernie Hines	Gary Manheim
Adrian Martinez	Hernando
Paul Fitzgerald	Actor
Grace Rex	Cheryl's Co-Worker
Alex Anfanger	Ted's Toner Box Associate
Amanda Naughton	Female Editor
Nolan Carley	Actor
Joey Slotnick	Retirement Home Administrator
Gary Wilmes	Walter's Dad
Marcus Antturi	Rich Melhoff
Rosamund Gudmundsdottir	Ticket Agent
Stuart Cornfeld	Actor
Maariu Olsen	Rental Car Agent
Makka Kleist	Bartender
Thorhallur Sigurdsson	Trawler Captain
Ari Matthiasson	Trawler 1st Mate
Hendrikus Schraven	Trawler 2nd Mate
Finni Johannsson	Actor
Eysteinin Gardarsson	Zodiac Shark Rescuer
Jose Alcantara	Chilean Sailor
Rodrigo Sepulveda Espinosa	Chilean Sailor
Seba Alon	Chilean Sailor
Miguel Baez-Olavarria	Chilean Sailor
Daniel Orellana	Chilean Sailor
Antonio Molina	Actor
Martin Lagos	Chilean Sailor
Andres Quezada	Chilean Sailor
Valur Snaer Hilmarsson	Skateboard Kid #1,Skateboard Kid #2
Birgir Jarl Runarsson	Skateboard Kid #3
Gunnar Helgason	Hotel Keeper
Kai Lennox	Phil Melhoff
Gurdeep Singh	Cab Driver
Anthony Desio	Mover
Losang Thonden	Older Rajqawee
Rinjee Sherpa	Younger Rajqawee,Soccer Playing Sherpa,Soccer Playing Sherpa,Soccer Playing Sherpa,Soccer Playing Sherpa,Soccer Playing Sherpa,Soccer Playing Sherpa,Soccer Playing Sherpa
Haroon Nawabi	Afghan Warlord
Stefan B. Onundarsson	Afghan
Mohammed Arif Baser	Afghan
Mohammed Pancherri	Afghan
Ehsan Nawroz	Afghan
Steve Assil	Afghan
Walter T. Mudu	TSA Skeleton #1
Liz Mikel	TSA Skeleton #2
Brian McFadden	TSA Officer #1
Dion Graham	TSA Officer #2
Richard DeDomenico	Piano Wholesaler
Radioman	News Stand Guy
Jon Daly	Tim Naughton
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson	Helicopter Pilot
Þórhallur Sigurðsson	Trawler Captain
Don Proctor	Paul Fitzgerald
Stuart Cornfield	Greenland Air Passenger
Matt Levin	Board Meeting Guy
Theodore Shapiro	Composer
José González	Composer

Technical Credits

Steve Conrad

James Thurber

Ben Stiller	Director,Producer
John Goldwyn	Producer
Stuart Cornfeld	Producer
Samuel Goldwyn Jr.	Producer
Sarah Dowland	Executive Producer
Gore Verbinski	Executive Producer,Producer
Meyer Gottlieb	Executive Producer,Producer
G. Mac Brown	Executive Producer,Producer
Leifur B. Dagfinnsson	Production Manager
Craig Henighan	Sound Mixer
Skip Lievsay	Sound Mixer
Steven Visscher	Sound Editor
Rick Chefalas	Sound Editor,Sound Effects
Tim Trella	Stunts
Steve Conrad	Screenwriter,Screenwriter
Jeff Mann	Producer
Steve Baine	Sound Effects
Bryan Dembinski	Sound Effects
James Thurber	Screenwriter
Roland Fullajtar	Special Effects
Eric Jolley	Special Effects
Steve Decastro	Stunts
Freddy Esposito	Stunts
Mark Fichera	Stunts
Aja Frary	Stunts
Tracey Ruggiero	Stunts
Valisa Tate	Stunts
Daniel May Wong	Stunts
Samuel Goldwyn, Jr.	Producer

Editorial Reviews

After finding his directorial voice with a series of pop-culture satires that culminated in the pitch-perfect, Hollywood-skewering Tropic Thunder, Ben Stiller changes gears with an adaptation of the classic James Thurber short story The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, a movie with an earnest, humanistic message that's a substantive break from his previous work. The director stars as the title character, a devoted employee at Life magazine who's in charge of all of the photo negatives that arrive at the publication. He's a quiet and meek man whom others find bizarre because he often zones out -- sometimes in mid-conversation. What they don't know is that Walter has a rich fantasy life, and his spacey episodes find him imagining any number of things; most recently, he's been daydreaming about how to impress new co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). Walter quickly butts heads with Ted (Adam Scott), a corporate shark who has been put in charge of ending the magazine's print edition and converting the publication to a website that will be called Life Online. Ted has been tasked with overseeing the final issue, and luckily the mail brings the latest series of negatives from revered photojournalist Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), including one that he claims in an accompanying letter is the best photo he's ever taken. Ted, who hates Walter on sight, says that's the picture that will grace the cover of the final issue. However, the negative of the photo is not in the envelope, prompting Walter to go on the sort of thrilling adventure that, to this point, he's only thought about. The first 45 minutes of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are thoroughly charming and often very funny. Stiller has grown into a very adept director, something apparent in the wordless but still warmly humorous opening scene in which Walter tries to make contact with Cheryl at an online dating site -- though that's hardly the only example. He's given Walter's regular life the sort of fussy visual control that recalls Wes Anderson, but when the daydreams take over, he can switch immediately into another mode altogether. The daydreams recall Stiller's work on his self-titled sketch-comedy show, where he would often make short films in the style of popular directors, and the first half of the movie feels like he figured out how to balance that playful side -- there's a parody of Benjamin Button that brings the house down -- with more original ambitions. The second half settles into a more straightforward tale -- a bittersweet, quirky road movie that finds Walter traveling around the world to find O'Connell. The daydreams disappear at the midpoint, and while that's thematically important and absolutely right from a storytelling standpoint, you miss the anarchic energy they brought to the film's tone of whimsical melancholy. Steven Conrad's script has a quite lovely central message: In an age in which everyone is encouraged to live publicly on social media, there are brave, important, and lovely souls who go unnoticed and underappreciated. It's a concept Stiller treats reverently and gently -- even if the symbolism of Life becoming Life Online is thunderously obvious. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty may be the first time the director hasn't improved over his previous film, but it's also quite unlike anything he's tried before. Earnestness is often the death of comedy, but this movie has something to say, and it says it with humor, style, and heart.