Strange thing happened. The theater was about 3/4 full, a mixed crowd but mostly teens. The movie was warm, well done, but not all that exciting. Especially, I would think, for a younger crowd.

And the ending, though appropriate and life affirming, is not the kind that will shock you or blow you away, or even give you something climatic.

But an amazing thing happened: the crowd clapped and cheered at the end of the movie. This stunned me...but made me feel great.

What's more, walking out I heard a boy of about 16 tell his friends it was his new favorite movie of all time. Whoa!

I want to caution: if you are looking for excitement, adrenaline, gut wrenching emotion, action, or belly slapping humor...you won't find it in this film. If you're looking for something deeply original or intellectually stimulating...you won't find it in this film.

It's simply warm and human. And it's about life. How else do kids cheer a story about a middle age man who has never ventured or risked or explored or stood up for himself? We can identify with someone who wanted to take chances and for some reason never did.

On a technical story telling note, this story was obviously crafted deliberately along the steps outlined by Campbell in the hero's journey. I mean by the numbers: call to adventure, "magic" amulets, ogre at the threshold, the feminine guide, belly of the beast, road of trials, atonement with the father, the return...it's all there, and very consciously so.

Sort of reminded me of Forrest Gump. Like that kind of vibe. I loved it. I have a new respect for Ben Stiller...who to me is kind of card board. He did a great job directing this film. I think we'll see it once more in the theater. Liked it that much.

I liked the movie. I didn't think too much of the day dreaming stuff and I could have done without it but I thought overall this was a very well crafted movie. It all fit in nicely in the end.

LOL Demento...The daydreaming stuff is what Walter Mitty was all about. In fact, they toned it down in this film.

Quoted from mmmarnie LOL Demento...The daydreaming stuff is what Walter Mitty was all about. In fact, they toned it down in this film.

I know but I still didn't like it. I thought it was overplayed and unnecessary, I would have liked the movie better without it. If they worked out a different angle.

That's like saying you'd like Jaws better with no shark. Walter Mitty is a story by James Thurber. He wrote it in 1939. His character, Walter Mitty is a daydreamer. That's the story. It's all about his daydreams. Without them you have nothing.

Quoted from mmmarnie That's like saying you'd like Jaws better with no shark. Walter Mitty is a story by James Thurber. He wrote it in 1939. His character, Walter Mitty is a daydreamer. That's the story. It's all about his daydreams. Without them you have nothing.

I know it's a short story. I would have liked the movie better if it didn't have the daydreaming aspect. I haven't read the short story so I don't care how faithful the movie is to it. I have no emotional attachment to it. As a stand alone movie I did not like the daydreaming aspect, it felt gimmicky to me.

You know? You guys are both right IMO. The daydreaming is part of the original concept, so it does seem essential. And yet it's really not. It disappears in the second half of the movie, ostensibly because Mitty is finally living his own adventure. But the truth is it really didn't add much to the film. The film would have worked just as well if they just showed Walter daydreaming. We don't need to see his dreams.

Quoted from KevinLenihan You know? You guys are both right IMO. The daydreaming is part of the original concept, so it does seem essential. And yet it's really not. It disappears in the second half of the movie, ostensibly because Mitty is finally living his own adventure. But the truth is it really didn't add much to the film. The film would have worked just as well if they just showed Walter daydreaming. We don't need to see his dreams.

I agree. It seemed to me as it was put in there as a device to start of the story and to add scenes that can be used in the trailer. I think you could rework the same story without the daydreaming aspect and it would be a better movie. Those scenes seemed a bit childish and trying too hard to be cute, to me.

I'm sure the original story is good but I think this movie would have benefited without the daydreaming stuff. It would have allowed for a bit more serious tone to be worked into the story, which would add layers to it.

Just my 2 cents.

Well I'm glad the people who decided to make the film didn't change the original concept which is ALL about his daydreams. ALL about them. Him going on all kinds of adventures in his daydreams.

They really could not have changed the original concept and still marketed as Mitty.So there was no choice about keeping the dreams. The question is if the film was not based on an older story, would the dreams have needed to be there? He really doesn't go on any adventures, that I can recall, in the dreams. Maybe there is one at the beginning, and I don't even remember what it was...which shows how non-essential it was to the story. After that, his dreams were situational involving the woman or the evil boss. I don't remember the dreams being funny or in any way interesting. In fact, the amusing parts were connected to people making fun of him staring into space.

Also, once we know these are just fantasies, unless they are really entertaining in themselves, what could they possibly do for us? We know they're not real, so they have no meaning for the larger story. And they are not flashbacks, so they shed no light on Mitty's past. After the first one, they cease to have any function within the story line.

Just a thought. I didn't think about it until Demento pointed it out.

I thought the eHarmony angle was much more important to the story. It served as a metaphor on how he hasn't really done anything with his life and that's why his web profile was empty and he couldn't send a wink to the girl he liked. He wasn't done anything so he can't get the girl. When he started doing things his profile was build up and in the end he got a ton of requests on the site and got the girl in real life. I thought that was nicely worked in.

The daydreaming sequences didn't really add anything. They were rather silly, especially the fight with the evil boss. That was just a waste of screen time IMO.

Marnieml mentioned Forest Gump. In Forest Gump, the story is kind of this not so bright guy somehow finds himself present at many historical moments but can't get the girl he grew up with. Yet few people remember the scene where Forest is a kid and shows Elvis how to do his famous moves. In they end they remember "life is like a box of chocolates", "stupid is as stupid does". They remember things that are specific to Forest, because the Forest character is so strong and funny on his own. The history stuff just becomes filler.

The daydreaming here I think is just filler as well. It's not really essential and other aspects of the film are much more interesting.

I'm sure the short story is great in it's own right. But this FILM would have been better if it was reworked in my opinion. They could have added another layer or two at the expense of the daydreaming sequences.

Still a good movie.

double post. sorry.