One last Star Wars parody trailer

This is the "George Lucas Special Edition Trailer"

Funny stuff...

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

I had to make sure that I included the year of release in my post title, because I grew up with the film version starring Danny Kaye that was released in the late 1940's.  Neither that movie nor this movie (which stars Ben Stiller in the title role) stay totally faithful the James Thurber's original short story.  Furthermore, these two films are in themselves very different.  However, having seen both of them, they are both fine films, for very different reasons.

In this present day version, Walter Mitty works at Life magazine in the photography department.  He is in charge of the processing and use of negatives.  In the film, Life magazine has decided to release one final print edition before switching over to all online.  Walter Mitty has worked for Life magazine for 16 years, and he loves the company.  All the while, he has slipped into his share of daydreams, as he seeks to augment his humdrum life with adventure.  He has become working friends with a great photographer named Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), whose photographs have been used by the magazine regularly.  Strangely, though the two have worked on photos together, they have never met in person.  O'Connell seems to live the life of discovery and adventure for which Mitty yearns.  When Sean sends him one roll of negatives and claims that negative #25 captures "the quintessence of life", Mitty is horrified to realize that he has misplaced the negative.  When a new corporate hatchet man (Adam Scott) is brought in by Life to lay off all its unnecessary employees, he finds out about this "quintessential" picture and demands that Mitty provide it so it can be considered for the final cover.  When Mitty is unable to find the negative, Mitty sets off on a journey to find the negative.  Thus far, his life has been somewhat mundane.  But this new quest gives his life a new purpose.  This is helped along by the presence of a new attractive worker in the office named Cheryl (Kristen Wiig).

This movie kind of snuck up on me.  The first half of the movie incorporates Walter's fantasy life very well, but is a bit slow.  Only after the movie's end did I come to see that the movie has a deliberately slow pace at times.  Its pace lends itself to the movie's being a sort of meditation on life.  Ben Stiller's vision works very well.  The fantasy world of Mitty is contrasted very well by the new places Mitty actually sees.  His passport is finally put to use, and the vistas and people from such faraway places as Greenland, Iceland and Afghanistan show a great wonder to the real world.  As Walter begins to explore the real world and relate to, his fantasy world begins to subside.  The new experience of faraway places as well as relating to Cheryl give him not only new reasons to be excited, but also a new sense of courage, especially as his new boss proves to be a difficult person.

There is a slight sadness to this movie that breathes life into it.  Perhaps its the initial dullness of Walter's life.  Perhaps its his father's absence (Walter brings up a couple of times in the movie that his father died when he was 17) that gives the film an air of melancholy.  Whatever it is, the melancholy is augmented by Walter's impending job loss, and his sadness over what he sees as the new management's failure to live up to Life magazine's values.  In many ways, this movie reminded me of one of my favorite movies of the past ten years, "Stranger Than Fiction".  Both films star actors primarily known for comic work, but do fine dramatic work in their respective roles.  Both films involve shaking the protagonist out of a sort of permanent day dream to live their lives more fully.  And both films have a secret that keeps the viewer guessing until the very last shot.  The ability of both of these films to make us laugh and think while also tapping into our emotions sets both of them apart.  But what makes them both exciting and dramatic show both films have a great plot twist that is only revealed in the closing shots.  This is a movie about celebrating real life.  Whatever trials we face in this life, there is a lot to celebrate.