The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I'm not sure where exactly it happens - because, in the beginning, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is sort of boring and preposterous - but, somewhere along the line, it becomes a very good movie. In fact, it becomes one of the best movies I've seen this year. It's a movie that is smart and funny, adventurous and visually stunning.

Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) is a forty-something daydreamer who works at Life Magazine in the photography department. Evil bearded Ted (Adam Scott, mean and hilarious) announces Life Magazine is moving online and will be publishing their final issue with a negative from famed photographer Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn). The only problem? Walter seems to have lost the negative. So, with urging from a pretty co-worker he's crushing on (Kristen Wiig), Walter embarks on an actual adventure, instead of just one that plays in his head. He starts following a few very vague clues and ends up at a dive bar in Greenland where he soon heads on a helicopter to a boat in the middle of the ocean. I guess, this is where the movie finally gets good because, from there, it's nearly non-stop adventure as Walter travels the world, meets interesting people and does amazing things.

This film was also directed by Stiller, and is based on a story I haven't read. When I first saw the previews, I was truly excited to see this film. The redundancy of which I saw that trailer sort of made me start to groan every time I saw it after a while, but I was still excited for the movie. And it didn't disappoint. I read somewhere that Stiller nailed the comedic aspect of the film, but didn't really sell the more dramatic parts. I disagree with that. I thought Stiller nailed the shy, reticent, day dreamer. Actually, I thought all of the performances were great, especially since almost all of the actors in this movie are more well known for comedy than anything else. But, they all gave pretty well-rounded performances. Of course, I'm the biggest Sean Penn fan in the world, and I think his small scene near the end is, far and away, the highlight of the film. The moment between Sean and Walter near the end is an absolutely beautiful scene.

Another great thing about the movie is the visuals. I don't know if it had a lot to do with Stiller as a director, per se, or if he just managed to find truly beautiful places to shoot, but the cinematography is stunning. From the run down charm of Greenland to the majestic Himalayas to skateboarding through the rolling fields of Iceland, every scene on Walter's journey is gorgeous to look at.

Of course, the real theme of the movie has to do with finding someone to connect to (which has been in a theme in a lot of movies I've watched this year), and Stiller and Wiig sell that aspect of the film as well. They have great playful, awkward chemistry. The movie may start on the slow side, but it certainly picks up and becomes a truly great movie going experience. I'm not usually one for "nice" movies, but this is definitely a very sweet, very heartwarming, nice movie.

Grade: B+

Mini Reviews

Every year, I try to watch as many film released within that year as possible, so that at the year's end I have as many films as possible for consideration onto my best and worst lists. So, I've been keeping up with films I missed at the theater or that went straight to DVD through Netflix. Here are some mini reviews for those films.

Being Flynn
Starring: Robert DeNiro, Paul Dano, Olivia Thirlby
Plot: A wannabe writer discovers his deadbeat dad is sort of a loser despite the fact that he claims to be the greatest living American writer.
Thoughts: Solid acting from Dano and DeNiro can't save this cheesy, melodramatic, boring mess of a movie.
Grade: C+

Friends With Kids
Starring: Jennifer Westfeldt, Adam Scott, Maya Rudolf, Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Chris O'Dowd, Ed Burns, Megan Fox
Plot: A woman in her upper 30s and her longtime best friend decide to avoid the pratfalls of their friends who got married and had kids and just stay friends and have a kid.
Thoughts: The first two thirds of this movie are an absolute joy. The cast is fantastic and it's genuinely touching and funny and well-written. However, a cliched third act threatens to ruin everything.
Grade: B-

Hick
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Blake Lively, Eddie Redmayne, Juliette Lewis, Rory Culkin
Plot: A young girl realizes she's had enough of her hick family and decideds to run away to Vegas where she plans on finding a rich man. She meets some shady people along the way.
Thoughts: A super mess of a movie, although Moretz is great. But even Juliette Lewis (who really isn't in enough movies these days) and Rory Culkin (the best Culkin!) can't save this mess.
Grade: D+

Innkeepers
Starring: Sara Paxton
Plot: On the last weekend run for a Bed and Breakfast, two co-workers decide to investigate the fact that the place may haunted.
Thoughts: A fairly effective, yet predictable, ghost story. The moments of boredom and the overall lameness is nearly saved by a really great ending.
Grade: C+

Lockout
Starring: Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace
Plot: In the near future, there is a maximum security prison floating in space. The president's daughter (Grace) happens to be there when a riot breaks out. A conman (Pearce) is sent in to save the day.
Thoughts: Super cliched in just about every way, but also not such a bad way to spend a mindless summer night. Pearce is the saving grace as a smart ass anti-hero.
Grade: C-

Project X
Plot: High schoolers throw the most epic party ever.
Thoughts: It wants to be Superbad or The Hangover, but it's not nearly funny enough to be either. It tries its best to be shocking but that's not enough.
Grade: D+

The Woman in Black
Starring: Daniel Radcliffe
Plot: A young man goes to the English countryside to investigate the death of a woman.
Thoughts: Totally boring and cliched up until about the last 5 minutes when it finally got compelling, but too little too late.
Grade: D

Quickies: Contagion, Drive and more!

Win Win - Indie darlings Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan star as a Midwestern couple who all but adopt a young wrestling prodigy in this charming little film. Giamatti and Ryan are both fantastic in their roles, especially Giamatti who doesn't play necessarily the most likable person in the world. Bobby Cannavale manages to steal every scene he's in, of course. I was expecting just your average indie quirky film but it had a lot more depth and heart that I was expecting. It's definitely worth checking out.
Grade: B-

Contagion - If you think this is just going to be another boring disaster type flick about an epic disease spreading through the world is wrong. This isn't Outbreak. This a great film from director Steven Soderbergh with, probably, the most perfect cast of the year: Matt Damon, Kate Winslet, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, John Hawkes, Marion Cotillard, Bryan Cranston, Laurence Fishburn. Paltrow goes oversees on a business trip and manages to become infected. When she returns home, she begins to pass the virus to everyone around her. And so it begins. Watch as husbands mourn their cheating dead spouses and struggle to keep their daughter disease free, doctors try to find a cure and trace the beginning, and sleazy journalists try to profit from the whole thing. A great thrilling interesting timely film.
Grade: B

Paul / Your Highness - I could pretty much say the same thing about both of these movies: so much wasted talented!!! Paul is about a couple of nerds leaving Comic Con who discover a real alien and run from the FBI. The wasted comedic talent includes, but is not limited to: Simon Pegg, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch and my beloved Landry from Fright Night Lights (a.k.a. Jesse Plemmons). Your Highness is an epic about a stoner knight who goes on a quest with his handsome brother to save his virgin bride from an evil wizard. Not only is it directed by David Gordon Green, the genius who directed All the Real Girls and George Washington, but also it wastes the considerable talents of Natalie Portman, James Franco, Zooey Deschanel and Justin Theroux (and the somewhat lesser talents of Danny McBride). Neither film is funny at all. Both are a huge waste of time and will probably end up on my Worst of the Year list.
Grade: F for both

Drive - This movie has a massive amount of swagger and style from the very first second of the film. You are immediately engrossed in this beautifully filmed story about a stunt car driver for films who finds himself caught up in a crazy world of driving criminals from whatever place they happen to be robbing. And, boy, can he drive. He being Ryan Gosling, who mesmerizes and smolders his way through this film. He's fantastic. As is the supporting cast of Carey Mulligan (who is pretty much Michelle Williams, version 2.0 and that is NOT a bad thing), Bryan Cranston (again!), Ron Perlman and SCENE STEALER EXTRAORDINAIRE Albert Brooks. Seriously, Brooks is sooo damn good, I can't imagine him not being nominated for an Oscar at this point. This movie is simply beautiful, one of the best of the year. It's silent and intense and a great slow burn thriller that goes from zero to extreme violence in the blink of an eye. This movie should not be missed!
Grade: B+

Bridesmaids

Don't be fooled - Bridesmaids is not a chick flick. And it's not a female version of The Hangover. It's just a damn good, well-written movie that happens to be hilarious. Yes, it does set the bar for R-rated comedies this year. Yes, it's the funniest thing I've seen in theaters since, probably (and ironically), The Hangover. Yes, it's the best movie of 2011 (so far). Yes, my outpouring of overwhelming love for this movie may be because of two things: 1. It's refreshing as hell to have a movie that realistically portrays female friendships, and 2. I may have more things in common with Kristin Wiig's character than I care to admit right now.

So, anyway, Wiig (who also co-wrote the script) plays Annie. Annie once owned a bakery in Milwaukee but the store went under and now she works at a jewelry store although she hates it. She's single, although she's sleeping with a not-so-nice guy (played by Jon Hamm). She's also taken aback when her best friend since childhood Lillian (Maya Rudolph) suddenly gets engaged. Lillian seems to have it all - she's successful and in love. To Annie, it seems her life is a disaster compared to her best friends. Lillian asks Annie to be her maid of honor and, thus, she is thrown into a world with a lot of hilarious women. There is Rita (Wendi McLendon-Covey), Lillian's cousin who is married with three kids and disgusted by all of it. There is Becca (Ellie Kemper) who is a giggly, adorable newlywed who loves Pixar and has only slept with her husband. There's Megan (SCENE STEALER EXTRAORDINAIRE Melissa Mccarthy) who is... well, you have just got to experience her. And there's Helen (Rose Byrne). Annie may be Lillian's oldest and best friend, but Helen is Lillian's new best friend. She's gorgeous. She's rich. And she goes out of her way to make sure Lillian has the most extravagant of everything. Of course, Annie is a little bit jealous.

So, the movie follows these magnificent, well written, completely fleshed out characters over the course of a few weeks (or months). It follows these women through hilarious ups and downs: the well-intentioned but ultimately ill-fated pre-fitting meal at a Brazilian restaurant, the Parisian themed bridal shower, and the hilarious bacherlorette trip to Vegas (which, I'm saying this right now - you will not see anything funnier this year than the scene on the plane. No joke. It is the single funniest thing I have seen in a movie in I don't know how long). You recognize these women, maybe as yourself or maybe as your best friend or a co-worker or a family member. Maybe instead of referring to ourselves as "Carrie's" and "Charlotte's", we can now start referring to ourselves as "Megan's" and "Helen's." (I've got dibs on Annie!). You become friends with these women over the course of this movie, which is what draws you into it. But, also, of course, it's funny as hell.

From director Paul Feig ("Freaks and Geeks") and super-producer Judd Apatow, this movie is both heartfelt and hilarious. The performances are all top notch, with Wiig carrying this film with her humor and likability. Even when her life is falling apart and she's making bad decisions, you still cheer for her, because, well, she's you or someone you know. Rudolph is great as Lillian and Byrne is fantastic as the bitch with a heart of gold Helen. As is Chris O'Dawd in the lone male role (Annie's adorable cop paramour). However, it's Melissa McCarthy that steals the show. Everyone will be taking about her ballsy, take-no-prisoners amazing performance. You probably know her as Sookie on Gilmore Girls, but she'll make you forget all about that here. She's fantastic and hopefully she will get tons more movie roles to prove it in the future.

So, Bridesmaids is a hilarious and well-written movie. And while girls will appreciate the female friendship dynamic of the movie and relate to the relationships, this movie is so funny that it will certainly appeal to both sexes. Not only does it have the best movie poster of the year, so far, but it is also the best movie of the year, so far.

Grade: B+