Steve Conrad’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (script version from March 2011), is a whimsical tale about a man who must find himself and preserve his dignity in the face of his whole world collapsing. Walter’s job title is practical asset manager and he’s in charge of maintaining the pictures taken by the Life magazine photo staff. As the company is in transition from downsizing and shifting over to an online business model, Walter must locate a missing negative that is intended to produce the cover photo for the final print issue. The photographer says that it best captures "The Absolute Quintessence of Life." It’s a fantastical tale, where during his search, Walter falls in daydreams that take him all over the planet.
The script’s themes include the struggle with one’s ordinariness, while finding value in what comprises our day-to-day lives. Walter takes himself and contributions for granted, which are epitomized in the vanilla dating profile he tries to improve throughout the story. The masses are dwarfed by the accomplishments of the few making a reach for relevancy often futile as dictated by the world he lives in. There’s a cold, Kafkaesque tinge to the environment he lives in during the unforgiving corporate takeover of his company. Changing technology instigates the premise of this story where we have the hero chasing after a dated form of photography (symbolized in the missing negative) in the age of the now towering and common digital format that is closing in on Walter’s livelihood. The script reads like a valentine to media’s yesteryear, much like Kevin Macdonald’s State of Play (2009) starring Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams.
The whimsical script is interspersed with actual footage like the protests at the 2000 Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles which substitutes in for a present-day G8 conference that Walter finds himself in the middle of, not unlike a scene from Forrest Gump. There is also A LOT of built-in product placement for companies like eHarmony, Starbucks, Subaru, Fiji water, Avis, Orange Julius, IHOP, Four Seasons, and Nikon (naturally); it reminded me of that infamous seen from Wayne's World mocking intrusive advertising. The script is occasional confusing, but mostly incredibly easy to follow as Walter, at least in his mind, traipses back and fourth from his home-base in New York City to various international locations. Conrad provides various exotic locales, and the transitions are handled mostly smoothly.
The writing is fast and sharp (“What does Quintessence mean?” is met with “Like the best ever” a couple of times). When a coworker learns that the negative is missing, he comments, “That’s not going to go over well with the new asshole.” Sarcasm is cleverly expressed. When Walter tries to explain how he found himself in his current occupation, “When I became an adult I thought that would be possibly a good thing to have. Because I keep getting bills from places.” Charming tone, really, and it’s easy to imagine Stiller in the title role. This will with no doubts be a crowd-pleaser and a film to take the whole family to. It’s a moving, understated script that offers cinema goers something different, meaningful, and optimistic for a change that kind of reminded me of the animated feature Up. And, with so much emphasis placed on just how great the missing photo is, the end result slyly lives up to the expectations.
A lot has been changed in the script, I imagine, judging from the production photos. We see there’s a shot of Wiig in a cop uniform, Stiller and Adam Scott fighting over a plastic doll, and sparring in the streets of New York City, so it seems that perhaps more hijinks were added. There were stills of elderly versions of Walter and Cheryl together reminiscent of the Thurber story. I’m guessing that they added some bookend scenes and decided to frame the story and tell it in flashbacks perhaps; additionally, they probably pushed more of a completed circle with the romantic angle.
Oscar Prospects
Earlier this year, I read a few bloggers getting very excited over some footage of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty being shown at CinemaCon. I had the foolish urge to be one of the first to declare it the Best Picture winner no one saw coming. It wasn’t too long before I had to temper my forecast. After all, it wasn’t going to have many categories help get it there. Outside of a minuscule shot that Shirley MacLaine could get into the supporting actress category, Mitty won’t have the acting branch to lend it any weight (which would be incredibly helpful to a movie of this genre). The delightful screenplay by Steve Conrad (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weather Man), however, is a possibility in what is shaping up to be kind of a weak year, though it’s hardly adapted. James Thurber ultra-short story is nothing like the script, other than it’s about a man who daydreams of fantastical adventures. Mitty is pretty original. However, it does bear some resemblance to the 1947 Danny Kaye Version, but sounds also quite different. The script feels a bit light weight, but it also has a a nice resonance with what being a person in a first-world nation is like today. What gives me some pause are the production photos. I imagine a great deal has been changed in the script with more a broad comic angle added. However, Ben Stiller continues to make a name for himself as a director and this project will in no doubt raise his profile, as this is more serious and earnest than anything he's directed thus far. It’s easy to forget that he has worked with an assortment of auteurs which include, but aren’t limited to, the likes of David O. Russell, Noah Baumbach, and Wes Anderson, and their collective elective spirit may have rubbed off on him. A directing nod seems unlikely, but not unheard of. Its main attention will be focused in the technical categories. From the trailer and stills, Stuart Dryburgh (The Piano), visual effects, the sound categories, and makeup all have a somewhat of a way in. But the film will have to be seen as a major technical achievement in order to find its way into the Best Picture race, as well as become a box-office phenom.
Plot Summary (spoilers)
Part of the opening credits, Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller) goes over his to-do list and then waits on a street corner on his way to work, like any other day. His head explodes, and out of it emerges various images which represent his thoughts, many of which are actually from Life magazine (Walter’s employer) cover photos. At a coffee shop, he consults with an eHarmony counselor Todd Mahar and they discuss how he has shared little information about himself thus far. The profile of coworker Cheryl Melhoff (Kristen Wiig) catches his eye. One of the images from his head—his mother’s piano—falls from the sky and lands on 53rdstreet. He bumps into his associate Roy, who tells him that Life has been bought out. In an elevator, he talks about with acquisitions manager Gary Mannheim (Terence Bernie Hines), as well as Ted Hendricks (Adam Scott), who was responsible for the purchase. They also discuss Walter’s position, which is liaison to the photographers.
In his office, one of those photographs Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) has left a leather wallet as a gift to Walter with a note that makes a reference to the final photo batch he was leaving him, which included negative twelve that captured “The Absolute Quintessence of Life.” When Walter can’t actually find that important negative, he overhears Ted having a conversation with an editor about putting it on the final cover for Life. He discusses it with colleague Tim Naughton (Jonathan C. Daly). Ted talks to Walter and some executives. Walter examines a print from Sean's last roll that could be a clue and discusses with Cheryl how Sean is unreachable by email and cell, as he imagines he’s somewhere in Bahrain. They discuss Walter’s position at the company, as well as their plans for the weekend. But, the conversation turns back to the imminent layoffs, as Life is going online. Later, Walter briefly imagines himself in Yemen running alongside Sean getting pummeled by protesters throwing shows. He chats again with Todd about the blandness of his profile. Cheryl helps Walter along with her son Rich (Marcus Antturi) push his mother’s piano down a street in Manhattan using skateboards and leave it in his sister’s parking garage space. When he’s alone, he tries the skateboard out. With the help of Tim, they figure out that one of the negatives has an association to Nuuk, Greenland. On his way to work, he imagines himself being cheered on by French cyclists for his consistent promptness at work. His mom Edna (Shirley MacLaine) visits him. Life holds a conference meeting to inform everyone that the rumors are true and Life, as they know it, will change. Layoffs will happen. Ted makes an announcement that the final cover will be the best one ever. Walter approaches Ted about the lost negative, but changes his mind when he overhears him on the phone discussing how great it will be.
Walter imagines himself off on a plane to Greenland, where he engages in local customs, while trying to locate the source of the photo. The next day a cabbie informs Walter that she’s also the queen. They observe musk oxen in migration, as well talk to a captain whose boat was captured by Sean in a photo, and postal clerk. From a photo, Walter recognizes the thumb of a helicopter pilot who flew Sean around just a couple days before. Walter reluctantly joins the pilot who must fly to a ship carrying Sean to deliver radio parts. While attempting to board a life craft near the shipping vessel, Walter falls into the sea, loses the radio parts, and comes near a porpoise as well as a shark. After climbing out of the ocean, Walter learns that Sean was taking pictures of Chilean stevedores and finds himself back at some parking lot. In some clementine cake wrapping, Walter finds a clue of Sean’s next destination: an Icelandic volcano. He takes a call from Todd. After Walter gets dropped off in a kayak to finish the final leg of the trip, giant-sized versions of Cheryl and Rich appear. They play a game of seeing who can hold their breath under water longest. When Rich becomes a little scared, Cheryl reassures him by singing Bob Marley’s “Three Little Birds.” Suddenly, Walter finds himself in the way of several athletes competing in a Reykjavik triathlon. Once ashore, he takes a cab and receives a call from his mother about the piano getting towed.
He takes a plane back to NYC to rescue the instrument from the impound lot. After having difficulties The retirement home administrator goes over options with Walter and his sister Odessa (Kathryn Hahn). The whole endeavor is draining Walter’s bank account. Odessa gives him a couple of nostalgic birthday gifts, which include a Stretch Armstrong doll and a writing tablet. At the Time-Life Building, Walter bumps into Ted. Ted later finds out that the negative is lost and threatens to fire Walter. His mother visits him at work again. She coincidentally drops the obscure names Walter found in Sean’s last note, and figures out Sean is in Somalia. He starts to hallucinate again and imagines himself as the young boy in the YouTube sensation “David After the Dentist.” There’s a montage of past covers from Life.
with a mover, he takes the piano and carries it on his back through traffic and on the subway to his mom’s apartment building, where movers lift it up to her new home only for everyone to realize it won’t fit.Walter takes a flight to Dubai and hitchhikes with some Danish teens. They visit a skate park and then spend the night at a hostel. He travels to Mogadishu, where violence has broken out in the streets. He briefly talks to Sean, who is swept away by a helicopter along with some Korean soldiers. On a Chinese freighter headed back to NYC, Sean calls Todd. He visits Cheryl and turns into a cubicle and gives Rich an Arabic skateboard. Cheryl comforts Rich when he wipes out. At Time-Life, Walter learns he has been fired, as well as Ted. Walter takes his concerns to Steve Penders and holds a conversation while he plays squash with a colleague. He returns home while wearing loupes and realizes that his mother took the mysterious picture and the subject as her piano. She’s there and tells him that she had a visit with Sean and that he’s on his way to Nepal. Walter and Edna also have a heart-to-heart. While walking the streets, he imagines everyone wearing the outfit they would put on if they were working in their dream job.
While sitting in the lavatory on a flight to Nepal, he tosses away the wallet Sean gave him. He takes a bus to a remote village, where a guide offers to take him to Sean. Walter receives a call from Todd. He finally finds Sean, who is taking pictures of snow leopards and informs him that the missing negative was in the wallet. He talks to his sister over the phone after flying into Los Angeles, and then proceeds to the downtown area where protesters are speaking out about the G8 conference. For a moment, everyone resembles Morgan Freeman. The Danish teens are in attendance. Walter spots Steve’s supervisor Mark Chatham in Los Angeles, who doesn’t know who he is. He grabs a megaphone to draw attention to his lost briefcase during a skirmish. Tear-gas is thrown and he’s pummeled with nightsticks, and Walter keeps repeating, “I’m a man,” to which the crowd begins to repeat. All of this is televised nationally. Rage Against the Machine is there holding a concert. They perform “Bulls on Parade.” Another riot breaks out. A police officer takes Walter down and arrests him. Of all people, Todd bails him out. They eat at IHOP. He receives a call from the airlines informing him that they located his wallet containing the negative and they send a driver out to return it to him. Todd takes him to the Four Seasons where Mark Chatham is staying and asks him for severance pay having worked for the company for nine years.
He visits Time-Life and collects his severance, and then handles the transfer of his mother’s piano. He discovers that the final issue of Life is a picture of him looking at photos--the common man who helped make Life magazine what it was--and chats with Cheryl. Roll Credits.