The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

PG

Released Dec 25, 2013

1h 54m

Comedy

Adventure

Fantasy

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Popcornmeter

52%

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196 Reviews

71%

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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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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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Jason Bailey

Flavorwire

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.

Jun 19, 2016

Full Review

Dana Stevens

Slate

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.

Jan 1, 2014

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Donald Clarke

Irish Times

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.

Rated: 3/5

Jan 1, 2014

Full Review

Emiliano Basile

EscribiendoCine

While not genial, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty recaptures the charm of hopeful stories by giving a comedy twist... [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 7/10

Dec 11, 2023

Full Review

Wael Khairy

The Cairo Scene

I admire the film’s originality, and the thought-provoking twist ending, but daydream of a deeper director’s cut.

Sep 23, 2022

Full Review

Brian Eggert

Deep Focus Review

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.

Rated: 1.5/4

Aug 19, 2022

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Chantelle M

This was a really cute and wholesome movie. I'm glad I took the time to watch it.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

06/25/25

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Keith B

Just a great movie to watch.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/23/25

Full Review

Toggo U

Leave it to the grumpy critics on Rotten Tomatoes to criticize this perfectly amazing movie. Don't listen to'em, just watch it, it has it all, and it'll leave ya feeling all warm and fuzzy by the end.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/19/25

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Sully G

A chicken soup movie for me, just makes me feel good

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/17/25

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Tony S

Thoroughly enjoyable. Stiller and Wiig make a fascinating almost couple for most of the movie. Walter's real life adventures are stunning.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

06/08/25

Full Review

D. Hunter P

This is the first project that Ben Stiller and Adam Scott did together and so its a great time to visit it after they did Severance together. The plot: The story is about a photo architect/manager guy that works at LIFE magazine. He's never really done anything with his life, just working day in and out and he loves his job. He's a sweet guy. They make it look like its going to be a romance movie early on but that is just a red herring. The story is basically about him getting to go on adventures that end up spicing up his dating profile inadvertently. In the end, he finds the photographer that had sent in pictures that would be perfect for the final physical issue of the magazine. My thoughts: The little elements showing off his overactive imagination were fun and creative. Honestly, it reminded me a little bit of me when I was younger. Then, I like that as he has his own experiences, he doesn't have to fantasize about them anymore. I think this movie was a good balance of comedy, adventure, and character development. I would definitely recommend it and I generally don't do a lot of comedy movies. I do have to say that I really do like Ben Stiller. He has good charisma and I have found a number of his projects have drawn me in when they normally wouldn't. I'd put him in the same general category as Ben Affleck.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/27/25

Full Review

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Ben Stiller

Director

Ben Stiller

Walter Mitty

Kristen Wiig

Cheryl

Shirley MacLaine

Edna

Adam Scott

Ted Hendricks

Kathryn Hahn

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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
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

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