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 "Walter Mitty," out in theaters on Christmas Day, finds
Stiller not just reimagining the character made famous from
author James Thurber's 1939 short story of the same name in The
New Yorker magazine, but redefining what Walter Mitty has come
to represent in popular culture.
Walter Mitty is described by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as
"a commonplace unadventurous person who seeks escape from
reality through daydreaming," and is often used to describe
people who imagine themselves greater than they are in reality.
Stiller's Walter Mitty is different. A middle-aged man trapped
by financial responsibility, Walter is a photo archivist at the
dwindling Life magazine, a job that is being replaced by
machines. Shy, sheltered and reserved, he is isolated from the
environment around him.
"(He's not) some kind of an oddball or loner or nerd, but just a
regular guy who has a lot of potential and hadn't figured out a
way to unlock it," Stiller told Reuters.
The movie blurs in and out of Walter's imagination as his
daydreams take him into new worlds and personas, be it the
rugged explorer seducing his crush Cheryl, played by Kristen
Wiig, or jumping into a fiery apartment to save trapped
residents. But as he breaks out of social isolation and makes
real human connections, Walter finds himself living a real life
far greater than his imagination could conjure up.
Stiller, 48, who has built up a body of directorial works from
1994's dark comedy "Reality Bites," 2001's goofball modeling
parody "Zoolander," and 2008's farcical action-movie send-up,
"Tropic Thunder," said "Mitty" marks a new chapter in his
catalog of works, and one that resonates closer to home.
"It was more of an experience that I have been feeling in my
life, maybe generationally, having grown up and experienced the
world pre-computers," Stiller said.
"Seeing the whole (digital) transition, to me what's getting
left in the wake of that are the real things, the tangible
things that go away when everything becomes digital."
The director added that even the comedic tone of "Walter Mitty"
is different from his previous works.
"The film is a lot less cynical than other movies I've made in
terms of its comedic tone, and I think that for me was uncharted
territory," he said.
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 EMBRACING LIFE IN A DIGITAL AGE
Caught up in a society shifting from the analog to the digital age,
Walter is tasked with recovering the photograph that will appear on
the cover of the final Life magazine as the publication is
downsized.
His journey to track down the photo, shot on film by
maverick photographer Sean O'Connell, played by Sean Penn, sees
Walter finally letting go of Life magazine and embracing life, a
motto echoed by the publication renowned for capturing iconic and
arresting photographs, which folded in 2007.
"A real Life magazine from 1945 is a piece of
history; you're holding something that actually existed back then. I
don't want my kids to grow up in a world that doesn't have any of
those things. I feel like there's a meaning to those things,"
Stiller said.
Made for a budget of $90 million and shot in New York City and
against visually captivating natural landscapes in Iceland, Stiller
said he faced new challenges as a director to capture real scenes
rather than using special effects.
One scene he was particularly proud of was a pivotal moment where
Walter dives into the turbulent waters of the North Atlantic,
symbolic of leaving his old life behind. It's a scene that Stiller
actually acted and filmed in the ocean.
"It's about a guy's imagination, so you're always trying to swing
for the fences of how much you can show," he said.
"As the aesthetic of the movie developed, we tried to be specific
with how we showed the fantasies and how visually they related to
the real world."
Setting "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" in a contemporary world
helped Stiller wrap cultural touchstones such as eHarmony online
dating or Instagram into the comedy, which the director hoped will
make the story more real for audiences.
"What I would hope for is that it's more than just a diversion, that
it somehow connects to something emotionally with people on some
level," the director said.
(Editing by Mary Milliken)
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