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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

Play trailer Poster for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty PG 2013 1h 54m Comedy Adventure Fantasy Action Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
52% Tomatometer 195 Reviews 71% Popcornmeter 50,000+ Ratings
Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), an employee at Life magazine, spends day after monotonous day developing photos for the publication. To escape the tedium, Walter inhabits a world of exciting daydreams in which he is the undeniable hero. Walter fancies a fellow employee named Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) and would love to date her, but he feels unworthy. However, he gets a chance to have a real adventure when Life's new owners send him on a mission to obtain the perfect photo for the final print issue.
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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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Critics Consensus

It doesn't lack for ambition, but The Secret Life of Walter Mitty fails to back up its grand designs with enough substance to anchor the spectacle.

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Critics Reviews

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Jason Bailey Flavorwire 06/19/2016
With such high aims, it's too bad that 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' falls somewhat short of greatness. But it's not often that you come across a "big" movie as earnest and patently un-cynical as this one. Go to Full Review
Dana Stevens Slate 01/01/2014
Stiller's attempt to braid together introspection and humor kept me engaged and curious, even when I wasn't quite sure what he was setting out to do. Go to Full Review
Donald Clarke Irish Times 01/01/2014
3/5
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty probably succeeds on its own terms. Given the elusive nature of those terms, it is, however, hard to tell for certain. Go to Full Review
Emiliano Basile EscribiendoCine 12/11/2023
7/10
While not genial, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty recaptures the charm of hopeful stories by giving a comedy twist... [Full review in Spanish] Go to Full Review
Wael Khairy The Cairo Scene 09/23/2022
I admire the film’s originality, and the thought-provoking twist ending, but daydream of a deeper director’s cut. Go to Full Review
Brian Eggert Deep Focus Review 08/19/2022
1.5/4
Less about Walter Mitty’s secret life than his actual, perfectly romantic, impossibly realized adventures, the film loses itself in a fantasy world all its own and never fully embraces the everyday balance of reality and imagination. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Cenny 4 @KenTan 2d Definitely a 10/10 movie. This film follows Walter Mitty, who initially ‘suffers’ from maladaptive daydreaming mostly about an enlightened version of himself doing impressive stunts like a superhero or a ‘perfect’ human being. Then he goes on multiple spontaneous road trips to find Sean, under the belief that the 25th shot is still with Sean. Although it was revealed that the photo was with Walter the whole time, it can’t be ignored that Walter has grown significantly from this trip, and became who he had wished to be— cool, admirable, and just more confident overall. He even bagged his crush. I really enjoyed watching his personal growth and I find it extremely rewarding to see how he has changed. The adventures he experienced was engaging too. I also liked the twists and turns he had to navigate, and how he overcame them respectively, growing loads too. The ending was also pretty well written, except for the fact that he didn’t go on more journeys haha (personal preference). 10/10! See more Mckenzie M @CriticKenz Apr 25 8/10 really good movie. definitely should watch See more Widdly S @RT76052853 Apr 20 One of the best movies I've ever seen. I don't understand the negative reviews. It's one of those movies that you think about after watching for years. See more Leslie K. @Wilbur380 Apr 18 Love this movie. Artistic, beautiful cinematography, lovely music, imaginative, warm and funny! So many layers to this movie. It a repeatable watch. I need to visit Iceland and Greenland!! Sometimes I just need me some Walter Mitty See more steve J @RT31983731 Apr 18 Just watched it. Him losing in the moments of his life is funnier and we all do that sometimes. Definitely recommend to watch it when you are bored. Trust me you won’t be bored. See more Neal H. @nhooper40 Mar 22 Love it. My favorite movie of all time. See more Read all reviews
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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Movie Info

Synopsis Walter Mitty (Ben Stiller), an employee at Life magazine, spends day after monotonous day developing photos for the publication. To escape the tedium, Walter inhabits a world of exciting daydreams in which he is the undeniable hero. Walter fancies a fellow employee named Cheryl (Kristen Wiig) and would love to date her, but he feels unworthy. However, he gets a chance to have a real adventure when Life's new owners send him on a mission to obtain the perfect photo for the final print issue.
Director
Ben Stiller
Producer
Samuel Goldwyn Jr., John Goldwyn, Stuart Cornfeld, Ben Stiller
Screenwriter
Steve Conrad
Distributor
20th Century Fox
Production Co
Red Hour Productions, Samuel Goldwyn Films
Rating
PG (Language|Action/Violence|Some Crude Comments)
Genre
Comedy, Adventure, Fantasy, Action, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Sep 30, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA)
$58.2M
Runtime
1h 54m
Sound Mix
Datasat, Dolby