THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY IS REVEALED AGAIN
A short story by James Thurber has now inspired two films, the latest directed by Ben Stiller, who plays the title role. Stiller, who often plays a shy guy whose antics are intended to amuse, is aptly cast in the role of a person in charge of the archives of negatives used throughout the many pages of Life magazine over the years. The demise of Life is the background story. The main plot revolves around Mitty’s dilemma: He wants a girlfriend, so he subscribes to eHarmony.com to find a way to give a “wink” to a coworker, only to discover that she has blocked all winks. Meanwhile, a photo destined for the last cover of Life is missing, so he gets the courage to track down photographer Sean O’Connell (played by Sean Penn), which means stepping out of his humdrum life to visit Greenland, Iceland, and Afghanistan (though filming is only in Iceland) in pursuit of the photo negative. He “zones out” (daydreams) from time to time to give him that courage. What little politics there is in the film is about being held prisoner at LAX because he on a “do not fly” list for his itinerary. Instead, the second version of the classic 1947 film starring Danny Kaye is transformed from an international conspiracy into a feel-good movie for those losing their jobs in 2007. MH