The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Plot

Walter Mitty is a negative assets manager at Life magazine living alone in New York City. He chronically daydreams and has a secret crush on Cheryl Melhoff, a coworker. Walter attempts to contact Cheryl via eHarmony, but eHarmony customer service agent Todd Mahar explains that Walter's account profile is not filled out completely: the "been there" and "done that" sections are blank.

Walter works with legendary photojournalist Sean O'Connell, although they have never met in person. Sean is "old-school", working with analog film and later sending a telegram. At work, Walter receives a negative roll from Sean, as well as a wallet in appreciation of Walter's work. Sean relays to Walter and Life management that he believes negative #25 captures the "quintessence of life" and should be used for the cover of the magazine's final print issue before it becomes digital. However, the negative #25 is missing. When Ted Hendricks, the obnoxious manager of the magazine's transition, asks to see #25, Walter stalls, worried about being fired. He then asks Cheryl for help in contacting O'Connell. Walter looks to the other negatives for clues to Sean's location – water, a thumb, and a mysterious curved object.

Walter and Hernando, his assistant, see a reflection in the water, which is the name of a ship registered in Greenland. Walter reluctantly takes a plane to Greenland. A bartender in Nuuk explains that Sean left on a ship. To reach him, Walter would need to go on the postal helicopter, whose pilot is drunk. Walter recognizes the pilot's thumb from one of the negatives and joins the pilot on a trip to bring supplies to the ship. Walter accidentally jumps into ice-cold, shark-infested waters, losing the ship's supplies and preventing radio communication when he comes aboard. There, Walter learns that Sean departed the ship a few days earlier and discovers from notes on wrapping paper for a clementine cake Sean left behind that he is heading to Iceland to photograph the volcano Eyjafjallajökull.

The ship brings Walter to Iceland. He then bikes, skateboards, and runs through the Icelandic countryside to find Sean but misses him as the volcano erupts. Dejected, he returns home. Hendricks assumes that Walter misplaced the negative and fires him. He tries to visit Cheryl but spots her ex-husband and leaves. Walter visits his mother and throws away the wallet from Sean. He recognizes the curve of the piano in his mother's house while looking at the last negative. When asked, she tells Walter that she baked him the clementine cake. She had told him earlier, but he was daydreaming.

Production

Development

Producer Samuel Goldwyn, Jr., whose father produced the 1947 film adaptation, conceived the idea of doing a remake in 1994; he had Jim Carrey in mind for the title role. Walt Disney Pictures was eager to purchase the remake rights, but Goldwyn instead chose New Line Cinema, which had a positive working relationship with Carrey on Dumb and Dumber and The Mask (both 1994). New Line Cinema bought the rights in 1995 with the understanding that The Samuel Goldwyn Company would be involved in creative decisions. Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz turned in the first draft of the screenplay in July 1997. Ron Howard entered negotiations to direct the same month, and to cover producing duties with Brian Grazer and Imagine Entertainment. Howard and Imagine Entertainment eventually left the project in favor of EDtv, and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty languished in development hell over the challenges of using a contemporary storyline.

In May 1999, New Line Cinema hired The Mask director Chuck Russell to rewrite the script and serve as Howard's replacement. Filming was set to begin in early 2000, but was pushed back. Around this time, Peter Tolan worked on rewrites. In May 2001, Goldwyn filed a lawsuit against New Line Cinema for breach of contract. Goldwyn claimed that the studio extended their 1995 deal until May 2001, but then announced that it wanted to transfer the rights for the remake to another company and have Goldwyn surrender his creative input. In November 2002, New Line Cinema was forced to revert the film rights back to Goldwyn, who won his lawsuit and took the property to Paramount Pictures. During pre-production discussions between Paramount and DreamWorks on Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (which starred Carrey), Steven Spielberg, head of DreamWorks, rekindled interest in working with Carrey; the duo previously considered Meet the Parents, but the outing fell apart. In May 2003, Spielberg agreed to direct, and brought in DreamWorks to co-finance The Secret Life of Walter Mitty with Paramount (which would acquire DreamWorks in 2006).

By November 2003, Zach Helm was rewriting the script, but Spielberg and DreamWorks vacated the film in April 2004 in favor of War of the Worlds and Munich. "The goal is to go back to the short story and capture not only the content but the original spirit," producer John Goldwyn (son of Samuel) told The Hollywood Reporter. Screenwriter Richard LaGravenese entered discussion to write a new script following Spielberg's departure. Samuel Goldwyn commented that LaGravenese's script had a momentous and unique approach compared to others. "I'd always felt that unless we got a great script, the movie disintegrates into a series of wonderful gags," Goldwyn explained. "Writers always fixated on that. [Richard] worked for 10 months on umpteen drafts, and he solved it." In March 2005, Paramount hired Mark Waters to direct LaGravenese's script for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but Carrey had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts. He was soon replaced by Owen Wilson.

Production

In January 2012, it was announced that Kristen Wiig would play the female lead, with Shirley MacLaine to play Walter's mother. This was followed by reports in February that Patton Oswalt and Adam Scott had joined the film. In April 2012, Kathryn Hahn was cast as Odessa, Walter's sister, and Josh Charles was cast as the ex-husband of Kristen Wiig's character, though he was replaced by Kai Lennox. Later that month, Sean Penn was cast in what was described as a "small but pivotal supporting role" as photojournalist Sean O'Connell.

The portions of the film set in Nuuk, Greenland, were in fact shot in Stykkishólmur, a village on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland, and Höfn, a village in southeast Iceland. Later sequences set in Stykkishólmur were actually filmed in Seyðisfjörður. The sequences where Walter Mitty follows Sean to Afghanistan were also filmed in Iceland, at the Skogafoss waterfall and in Vatnajökull National Park.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was shot entirely on analog film. CBS News reported "a significant portion of the film examines today's [2013] digital age[.]" Stiller said this was important, finding "this analog-to-digital transition ... sort of sad." Stiller claimed everyone was trying to replicate film with digital cameras, but he could simply have the movie shot on film.

Stunts

Despite using stunt doubles, actor-director Stiller did perform some of the stunt action himself. A double jumped from the helicopter, but Stiller claims he actually swam in the water. He says "half those shots" are really him—citing an example of him hiking up a glacier.

During the skateboarding scene in Central Park, pro skater Rodney Mullen served as Ben Stiller's stunt double. For the other skateboarding scene going down a mountain, another double was used. However, the close shots were Stiller. The safety rig he wore was painted out in the final film.

Release

In April 2013, nearly 20 minutes of footage was presented by Fox at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, followed by a theatrical trailer release in July, both of which began to spark awards speculation.

The film made its world premiere as the Centerpiece Gala presentation at the New York Film Festival on October 5, 2013. It was also selected to serve as the Centerpiece Gala presentation at the 2013 AFI Film Festival.

Marketing

20th Century Fox hired filmmaker Casey Neistat to make a promotional video based on the theme of "live your dreams", but Neistat suggested instead to spend the budget on bringing disaster relief to the Philippines in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan. Fox agreed and gave him a budget of $25,000.

Home media

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was released on DVD and Blu-ray on April 15, 2014, by 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.

Reception

Critical response

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty received mixed reviews from critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 52% based on reviews from 198 critics, with an average rating of 6.00/10. The site's consensus reads: "It doesn't lack for ambition, but The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fails to back up its grand designs with enough substance to anchor the spectacle." Metacritic gives the film a weighted average score of 54 out of 100 based on reviews from 39 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a B+ rating.

Glenn Kenny of RogerEbert.com gave the film a scathing review, writing that it "grated on my nerves...while everything Stiller attempts here has a real professional polish, what Mitty lacks is any sense of what life might actually be like for the kind of 'ordinary man' Mitty represents." Peter Debruge of Variety magazine criticized the film for lacking the satirical tone of the original story, comparing the film to "a feature-length 'Just Do It' ad" for the middle-aged audience the film was targeting. Debruge noted that the script downplayed the comedy, and that a scene inspired by The Curious Case of Benjamin Button shows the film could have been made funnier, but that the more serious emotional dimension ultimately made the film feel more substantial.

The film had its share of admirers. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone gave the film a positive review, saying "In his uniquely funny and unexpectedly tender movie, Stiller takes us on a personal journey of lingering resonance." Joe Neumaier of New York Daily awarded the film five out of five stars, saying "The story Stiller tells manages to float in a most peculiar, satisfying way." Political radio show host and film critic Michael Medved was also positive concerning the film, calling it "one of the feel-good movies of the year."

The film was criticized for the product placement of several brands which featured prominently in the storyline.

In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine asked readers to choose their top 10 Ben Stiller movies. The Secret Life of Walter Mitty was rated as Stiller's third-best film.

Soundtrack

The film features the following songs:

"Maneater" – Performed by Grace Mitchell

"Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" – Performed by Jack Johnson

"Wake Up" – Performed by Arcade Fire

"Don't You Want Me" – Written by Phil Oakey, Philip Adrian Wright (as Philip Wright), and Jo Callis

"Far Away" – Performed by José González

"Far Away" – Performed by Junip

"Space Oddity" – Performed by David Bowie and Kristen Wiig (uncredited)

"Lake Michigan" – Performed by Rogue Wave

"Dirty Paws" – Performed by Of Monsters and Men

"The Wolves and the Ravens" – Performed by Rogue Valley (Chris Koza)

"Stay Alive" – Performed by José González

"Step Out" – Performed by José González

"Don't Let It Pass" – Performed by Junip

"#9 Dream" – Performed by José González, written by John Lennon

"Space Oddity"

The song "Space Oddity" by David Bowie plays a significant role throughout the film. Walter Mitty is referred to mockingly as "Major Tom" by his new boss, Hendricks, in reference to the astronaut Major Tom in "Space Oddity", due to his frequent daydreaming: the boss interprets the line "ground control to Major Tom" as akin to "Earth to Walter; come in Walter". Cheryl later tells Walter that Hendricks misunderstands the song, as "it’s about courage and venturing into the unknown".

The song is featured in a crucial scene in which Mitty decides to leap onto a helicopter after imagining Cheryl singing the song. Stiller talked about the importance of "Space Oddity" in that scene during an interview in which he said that, "I felt like the way it fits into the story, we got to this point and this scene which was sort of how the fantasy and reality come together for Walter, and that was what that came out of. That song, and what he mentioned in his head, and what he imagines and what he does, it all just seemed to come together over that song."