The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013)

Hi there, thanks for dropping in! This week for our Letterboxd List review we’re looking at a list that hasn’t been mentioned this year. Out of all of the movies on Letterboxd, which ones have the most fans? Well, thanks to the Official Top 250 Films with the Most Fans list we can answer that question. Sitting, as of this writing, at number 143 on the list is the movie we’ll be looking at today. Let your imagination run wild as we explore…The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013).

Title: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Director: Ben Stiller

Premiered: October 5, 2013 (New York Film Festival), theatrical release in Belgium on December 18, 2013

Runtime: 1 hour 54 minutes

Watched via: Hulu

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a Negative Assets Manager for LIFE magazine. When LIFE photographers send in their work from the field, Walter and his co-worker Hernando (Adrian Martinez) are the ones who process it all.

Outside of work, Walter keeps to himself. He joins an online dating site and discovers his new co-worker, Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig). When he tries to send her a virtual wink, he continuously gets an error message. While on the way to work, Walter is on the phone with the support representative, Todd (Patton Oswalt), trying to sort out why his wink won’t send. During one of Todd’s responses, Walter zones out and in his daydream saves Cheryl’s dog from a building right before it explodes.

Walter arrives at work to learn that LIFE has been acquired. To make matters worse, the current month’s issue will be the last as LIFE will be transitioning to an online format. This means that the final cover image for LIFE magazine needs to be legendary. Luckily, freelance photographer Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) is one of the best in the game. He sends in a reel specifically for Walter to process, along with a personalized wallet and a note advising him that print 25 should be the cover as it captures the “quintessence of LIFE”.

Though there’s one major problem…print 25 is missing. Sean is practically impossible to get ahold of as well. He doesn’t ever stay in one place for very long and doesn’t carry a phone with him. However daunting a task tracking down Sean might be, Walter is up for the challenge. He’s tired of his safe and routine life. This opportunity will allow Walter to live out his daydreams for a change.

But will he be able to find both Sean and the missing print 25 before the final issue of LIFE goes to print?

So, to be honest, this wasn’t my first-time watching The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). However, it was only my second time seeing it and other than a handful of scenes, specifically long boarding and the Papa John’s, I didn’t remember much of anything about it.

I am so incredibly glad that I decided to revisit this.

Both Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig are incredible. While I’ve seen them both in dramatic leading roles before, I always forget just how good they are when they aren’t strictly chopping it up for laughs. Stiller brings a vulnerability to Walter Mitty that makes it incredibly easy to both pull for him and sympathize with him. Patton Oswalt as Todd is also a welcomed delight every time he calls Walter.

I really liked how Walter’s daydreaming never feels overdone. DP Stuart Dryburgh effectively uses the daydreams to blur the lines of Walter’s reality. Between that and the shots of Iceland, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) is an absolute feast for the eyes.

The cherry on top of it all is the soundtrack. There isn’t a single bad track to be found.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) is a wonderful feel-good movie that is chock full of heart.

If you’ve already seen it, go watch it again. If you’ve never seen it, please fix that as soon as you can.

So, if you have seen The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013), what are your thoughts on it?

Let me hear it in the comments below or over on Bluesky!

If you’d like to see what else I’ve been watching lately, you can give me a follow over on Letterboxd.