To the sound of Dirty Paws, Stay Alive and the memorable Space Oddity, Ben Stiller brings, with "The secret life of Walter Mitty" (2013), a light movie about the value of the journey.

The cinematography is detail-oriented, showing a wide range of colors that follow the main character's changes throughout his adventure.

Mitty's trip through such ecstatic settings happens as a symbol of the subtle changes we can make in our own lives. It seems like he needed to travel so far away to find himself.

As a typical hero's journey, the "good citizen" is provoked. He gets a great challenge. He hesitates, but after all, he throws himself into the unknown pursuing the goal that may transform his life.

The challenge for Mitty is to find a photographer called Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn) to retrieve the negatives of a picture. This is the target to be hit, the goal to be achieved, the result to be shown.

But, is "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" a movie about results?

Walter is a dreamer that has been put in place.

He feels the freedom to daydream, to think of different possibilities in his own life. However, he can't make it happen. He doesn't feel the essential confidence to make his first move.

Ben Stiller's character lives under the "What if..." logic:

- What if I asked her out?

- What if I went on that trip?

- What if I saved the day?

He looks invisible to his colleagues. He is remembered only as of the guy that can get certain things done to the next magazine edition.

He is the guy who flies the flag of the company and feels alone even being surrounded by people.

There is also poetry in some lines. Walter works for a magazine called "life", which is about to launch its last edition. So it seems like one "Life" needs to be ended to the authentic Mitty's life starts out. Again, just a typical hero's journey kind of thing that gives a good message.

Then, Walter Mitty takes up his mission. He goes unstoppably after the photographer hints. Along the way, he comes across a bunch of unusual challenges. So after all, adventures that were just in his mind turn out as real experiences. The daydreamer is definitely awake.

It happens that the goal becomes less important as we realize the character changes.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is about a journey

not about the finish line.

The movie is not about "the unbridled search for a picture". That was just an excuse for him to express himself.

Walter finds along the road the opportunity to combine his "secret life" with his "real life". He takes the risk to try to transform himself into the man he would like to be.

It's easy to notice that the main scenes occur during the trip. Although the end is interesting and turns out to complete the hero's journey, the greatest thoughts are extracted from Mitty's efforts to bring his actions closer to his desires.

Enjoying the journey is about accepting the impermanence

The movie climax comes when the photographer says:

If I like a moment, I mean; me, personally... I don't like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it. Right there... right here.

And the unforgettable:

Beautiful things don't ask for attention

Could have been different

The character could have found the picture earlier on. But, if so, how could we get so many thoughts from that, right?

By going through the mysterious adventure, Mitty rebuilt a bridge between his imagination and the real world.

All in all, we learn from it that the most valuable moments in life are lived along the way, not at the finish line.

Valter Machado

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty and the journey value