The incredible life of walter mitty

The plot of the story is transferred to the XXI century, modern reality. Walter Mitty is an employee of the illustrations department of Life magazine. Walter lost his father early, and all that was left was his mother and little whimsical sister. His work is a routine, although in his dreams he is carried away very far. He experiences fantastic adventures, imagines himself an astronaut, a traveler or an irresistible Casanova. Walter is in love with his new colleague, accountant Cheryl Melhof, but he hesitates to take a step towards her, only dreaming about it.

The owners of the magazine decided that the upcoming issue will be the last printed, then the magazine will be only in the "figure". As a result, big cuts are coming. On the cover should go photo of Sean O'Connell, who is the best photographer of the magazine, still filming. But in the negatives sent, this very unique frame is missing. The only chance to find a photo is to find Shawn himself, who does not use the telephone and whose address is difficult to find. Walter decides to go on a long journey: to Greenland , Iceland , the Himalayas . From the dream world, Walter is transferred to reality and gradually learns what life is.

The film's budget amounted to 90 million dollars and, in addition to the traditional costs of film production , included the cost of field shooting in Iceland and digital special effects of spectacular frames ^[5] . The scene of an imaginary fight of the protagonist with a new publisher is filmed on a real New York street to impart authenticity to the backgrounds. At the same time, the actors moved on different platforms or were replaced by stuntmen on roller skates . The faces and limbs of the stuntmen were subsequently replaced during post-processing, and the “destroyed” asphalt was rendered with CGI-graphics ^[6] . The scene in the ocean was filmed on the site and with a mechanical model of a shark . Subsequently, the backgrounds and water were modified by means of three-dimensional graphics, and the robot shark was replaced by an animated copy. The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano was created by combining computer simulation with field shooting, and the image of the Himalayas, where the characters meet, is obtained by transforming Icelandic landscapes from photographs ^[7] .

• Actors Jim Carrey , Owen Wilson , Will Farrell , Mike Myers and Sasha Baron Cohen were considered as candidates for the role of Walter Mitty ^[7] .
• One of the film’s heroes in Iceland drives a Russian-made Niva .
• The hero of Sean Penn O'Connell uses a rare version of the Nikon F3 / T "champagne-colored" camera with unpainted titanium body parts.

The reaction of critics to the next directing experience of Ben Stiller was quite controversial. If the film “The Cable Guy ” can be considered too dark comedy, then “The Incredible Life ...” is a comedy too light. The picture is too sentimental, although you cannot call it frivolous. Separate humorous scenes are tastefully filmed and attract attention, but on the whole, the satirical mood of the picture is not sharp enough ^[8] . An annoying presence in the picture of corporate spirit and advertising (for example, the eHarmony dating service ) also does not decorate the film ^[9] .

The 1947 film looks like a more logical and complete piece compared to Stiller’s work. In it, Walter Mitty won the girl's heart not with crazy feats, but with a sense of humor and human warmth. Modern features of special effects allow much more advantageous to present the fictional or real adventures of the main character, mixed to the ending. New York Times critic A. O. Scott noted that the creators were unable to come up with something that could draw attention to the figure of the main character as the main problem. The authors have not yet decided who he is: an ordinary dreamer or a guru who has achieved enlightenment among the routine of city life. James Berardinelli noted the actor's play of Ben Stiller, who created the image of the man in the street who was in an unusual situation. Together with Kristen Uig, they create a spectacular screen pair, between which there was a spark that attracts the viewer. In general, the critic rated the picture as somewhat old-fashioned in spirit, which is unlikely to attract a youthful audience, but would be interesting to viewers of a more solid age ^{[10] [11]} .

• 2013 - getting into the top ten films of the year according to the National Council of Film Critics of the United States .
• 2013 - two nominations for the “Sputnik” award : the best original music (Theodore Shapiro), the best cinematography (Stuart Dryburg).
• 2014 - Two nominations for Saturn Award : Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor (Ben Stiller).
• 2014 - American Comedy Awards nomination for best comedienne (Kristen Wiig).

• Buster Lloyd. Incredible effects of Walter Mitty (rus.) // «MediaVision»: magazine. - 2014. - № 1/41 . - p . 30-33 .

• Official site of the film (inaccessible link) (English)
• Walter Mitty's Incredible Life (English) on the Internet Movie Database  
• "The incredible life of Walter Mitty" (eng.) On the site allmovie