The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is what you would call a feel good movie. Walter (Ben Stiller), is a day-dreamer who works for Life magazine in the photography department. When the magazine closes to go online only, it’s the last few weeks on the job for Walter and his remaining co-workers to put together the final issue. Sean O’Connell (Sean Penn) is one of the worlds best photographers and he has a long working history with Walter. He sends him a roll of his latest work for the magazine and thinks #25 is the one for the final cover. But it’s not with the other negatives and Walter has to find it.

Walter is a shy a guy who finds himself day dreaming about how he wants (or wishes) things would go for him. He has a crush on his co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wigg) but can never work up the courage to ask her out (he even resorts to eHarmony in an effort to get to “talk” to her). These fantasies are often really elaborate and pull him entirely out of reality. When he takes on the task of finding the negative, it turns into a globe trotting adventure that changes his life. He comes out of his shell a more confident and positive person.

Ben Stiller directs and stars in Walter and I gotta say it’s some impressive stuff. The special effects are extensive and well done, the pacing of the movie nearly perfect. He balances both rolls as lead and director really well and the surrounding cast is really good. Sean Penn isn’t in much of the movie, but he does an exceptional job with his small, but important role.

Walter’s story is a good and complete one. We are introduced to who he is, get glimpses of who he was and thus how he became the Walter we first see. Sean inadvertently brings out a side of Walter’s life that he thought he could only imagine. Great movie for a long or rainy weekend, I recommend it.