Reaction: ‘The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty’ Footage Sparks Early Oscar Buzz
By Peter Sciretta/April 18, 2013 3:00 pm EST
After the jump you can read my thoughts on the footage screened from Mitty, or watch a video blog I recorded with Alex from Firstshowing talking about presentations of footage from The Wolverine, Epic, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Walking With Dinosaurs: The Movie.
I must admit, I have never seen the old Danny Kaye movie or read the book The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is based on, so pardon my ignorance to this film. I had seen Mitty on upcoming schedules and written it off as another broad comedy starring Stiller. I’m not sure why, as I was a huge fan of Stiller’s directorial efforts Cable Guy and, to a lesser extent, Zoolander.
The film feels like a mixture of the loneliness of Eternal Sunshine, the hopeful comedy of (500) Days of Summer, and the epic bigger-than-life moments of Forrest Gump. The always-lovable Kristen Wiig co-stars as a woman Walter has a crush on. He fantasizes about her in various moments of his life. These fantastical daydream sequences are what bring this film to a completely different level than the character-based comedies we’ve seen in the past.
Walter Mitty feels like it could be a really special film, one that doesn’t come along every year. Heartfelt, funny, but with fantastical moments that are meant to be seen on the big screen in an audience full of strangers.
Here’s our video reaction:
