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S2:E11 - The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947, 2013 Films)
23 Plays10 days ago
In this week's episode of Based on a Book, we slip into the daydreams of the one and only Walter Mitty. Join us as we explore the evolution of James Thurber’s iconic short story—from the imaginative original, to the 1947 Danny Kaye comedy, to the visually stunning 2013 film starring Ben Stiller.
Hosted by Crystal with co-hosts Keri and Lindsey.
Books & Adaptations Mentioned:
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947 Film)
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013 Film)
Question of the Episode:
- When you find yourself daydreaming or zoning out, where do you go?
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Intro/Outro Music - Music from #Uppbeat (free for Creators!)
Thanks for listening to Based on a Book - see you in the next chapter!
Chapters:
(00:00) Introductions
(1:10) Overall Experience ratings
(4:00) Short Story Breakdown
(10:55) 1947 Film Breakdown
(20:43) 2013 Film Breakdown
(49:30) Final Verdicts
(52:32) Question of the Episode
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Hosts' Quirks
00:00:07
Speaker
Welcome to Based on a Book, the podcast where we will choose fictional worlds over reality every single time. I'm your host, Crystal, and there is no karaoke in the world that would inspire me to get in a helicopter.
00:00:23
Speaker
I'm Carrie, but you can call me Major Tom because another soundtrack just sent me to orbit.
00:00:31
Speaker
And I'm Lindsay, and the only exercise I get is jumping to conclusions.
Theme Introduction: 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty'
00:00:37
Speaker
but This week, we continue our adventure theme with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, or should I say lives?
00:00:44
Speaker
The short story by James Thurber, originally published in 1939, the 1947 movie starring Danny Kaye, and the 2013 movie starring and directed by Ben Stiller all tell the story of the mild-mannered title character Walter Mitty.
00:01:01
Speaker
and his vivid escapist fantasies. Each of the movies are very different from the story and each other. So i kind of want to do something a little bit different. And rather than ask for your ratings on just the story, i kind of want your rating on like the overall experience of Walter Mitty.
Hosts' Opinions on the Short Story
00:01:25
Speaker
that makes sense because I feel like combined these make an excellent experience but they're so different that you can't really rate one compared to the other and understand what you're getting at does that make sense yeah so um let's go ahead and start with Lindsay this time what'd you think yay okay so let's just say what did you think of the short story it's it's only what five pages it's very short I mean, the short story was, it was okay.
00:01:58
Speaker
You know, i wasn't, I didn't really feel a connection with the characters. It was just something I read and then didn't really think about again.
00:02:10
Speaker
ah But my rating for the overall experience is probably going to be three Pockitas.
00:02:19
Speaker
Okay. And Carrie, what's yours? I'd have to agree with Lindsay. The short story, I mean, didn't really have any like major effect on me at all. It is so short and kind of doesn't have like any type of major conclusion, in my opinion. and youre It's just kind of like a slice of life type of and so But my overall experience, you know, reading the short story, watching the two movies...
00:02:53
Speaker
I would probably give it four long boards. Okay. Okay. I think I am probably somewhere right in the middle for the overall experience. I agree the short story I didn't really connect with, um but we weren't really the target audience. So that makes sense.
00:03:13
Speaker
But the overall experience of Walter Mitty in general, I gave three and a half unexpected adventures And yeah, it was really interesting just to see the differences between the story versus the two movies and the two movies.
00:03:33
Speaker
The original in 1947 was direct produced by Samuel Goldwyn, Sr., the 2013 produced by Samuel Goldwyn, Jr. So to even see the father and son and um bring to life these completely different interpretations of the short story was really interesting
Short Story Plot and Themes Overview
00:03:54
Speaker
to me. But do you ladies have any final thoughts before we jump into full spoilers and breakdowns?
00:04:01
Speaker
No, I say we go into all the spoilers. Okay, listeners, this is your final warning. The rest of this episode will take you over stormy seas, across deserts, over mountains, and into dangerous missions with humbling consequences. Pack your bags, buckle your safety belts, as we discover the secret life of Walter Mitty.
00:04:25
Speaker
The story, the short, tiny little story, opens on a boat in a storm at sea or in a car driving to the beauty parlor.
00:04:37
Speaker
We don't really know. Well, we find out. Pay attention to the road. Right? Walter Mitty is a very mild-mannered man who gets lost in his fantasies. He zones out and the people in his life...
00:04:55
Speaker
consistently are having to say, you know, like, Walt, Walter, Mitty, like to get his attention and snap him back to reality. And the short story starts with us in one of his fantasies, as he's supposed to be driving the car.
Character Analysis of Walter Mitty
00:05:10
Speaker
And his wife snaps him out of it by saying like, hey, you know, pay attention, you're going so fast. I don't like it when you drive that fast. The short story was originally kind of targeted James Thurber is kind of known for writing stories about what at the time was considered a typical mediocre man in a...
00:05:34
Speaker
I don't want to say humbling relationship with a woman, but a more domineering wife who finds his way constantly just getting through life by doing what his wife tells him.
00:05:45
Speaker
um The man taking the backseat in the relationship. That's what a lot of James Thurber short stories were written about. It was actually coined Thurber man people who like do reviews of his work.
00:05:57
Speaker
And Walter Mitty is the quintessential Thurber man. Mm-hmm.
00:06:05
Speaker
We see him being consistently belittled by his wife. You know, like, why are you always daydreaming? Get your head out of the clouds. And he consistently, in his we see within his fantasies that he is dreaming and fantasizing of a more adventurous life, a more exotic life.
00:06:25
Speaker
Or like, he's always very like heroic as well. Right. So the first fantasy, he's piloting a naval vessel in a storm. And of course, the hero that comes to pilot the save the day and pilot them through...
00:06:39
Speaker
In the second fantasy, he's a surgeon performing some one-of-a-kind surgery. And we see a lot of James Thurber's love for wordplay and jargon come into the forefront, specifically in this story where he makes up these like medical words.
00:06:55
Speaker
Where he says some of the words are real medical terms, some are not. And they're said in nonsensical ways. um So it was kind of like just interesting me even thinking about like my own fantasies. I don't always know what I'm thinking about or or how to explain it, but I'll just make up some random words. And I was that kind of made me laugh.
00:07:16
Speaker
The third fantasy, he's an assassin testifying. I'm just thinking of me after watching like six seasons of Grey's Anatomy and then like gaming of me being a surgeon.
00:07:29
Speaker
Exactly. I'm like, hand me the scalpel and then I'm gonna do the and then I'm gonna do this and then I'm gonna do this. Stat! Just yelling stat all the time. Don't touch me, I'm sterile.
00:07:43
Speaker
yeah Right. Or Epi. What? God. And that's kind of how these fantasies play out in his head is is you can tell that they are definitely...
00:07:54
Speaker
more whimsical,
1947 Movie Adaptation Discussion
00:07:56
Speaker
right? They're more heroic. And he's he's almost always the hero. but Fantasy 4, he's an Air Force pilot volunteering for a suicide mission. and Everybody's going, you know, you can't come back from this. And he's like, someone has to do it. you know yeah He plays the hero.
00:08:11
Speaker
But in every single one of his fantasies, he's quickly brought back to reality by the people around him who are trying to get through your life. you know His wife telling him you you know, don't forget to pick me up or, you know, pick up the dog food and don't forget to get the boots.
00:08:28
Speaker
And, you know, he's trying to remember he gets to the shop that he's supposed to pick up stuff from and he can't remember what he was supposed to pick up. And he's, you know, sees a um a newspaper headline and he slips into his fantasy.
00:08:40
Speaker
But through the whole, you know, short story, he's Constantly being told like you've got to quit fantasizing. You've got to come back to reality. Where do you go to? um And this was an ongoing theme in a lot of James Thurber's short stories.
00:08:56
Speaker
We leave Walter Mitty at the end of our five pages standing outside the drugstore waiting for his wife to grab something inside. And he slips into another fantasy where he's standing against a brick wall in front of a firing squad, inscrutable to the last.
00:09:13
Speaker
And that's where the story ends. So really these movies – Could go anywhere. Yeah. It's one of those no other scenarios where it's like just taking the concept of what the essence of what Walter Mitty is and throwing in their own storyline with it.
00:09:35
Speaker
Pretty much. I think what i loved most Yeah. our podcast in general is that we have learned trying to find somewhat shorter stories to cover because honestly reading all of this takes up a ton of time so short stories is a good thing but the shorter the story the longer the movies yes but you know these movies are right around that two hour mark and it's intense I know. and But you know what?
00:10:01
Speaker
Because I think of the Stephen King ones, like the Stephen King novellas, but it had an extremely long movie and yet it was like a spot on adaptation. Yes.
00:10:12
Speaker
And so that's another thing that just like thinking about even like the birds, the Daphne du Maurier, the birds, you know, we we started with like I think it was like a 15 to 20 page story. It's pretty short. Yeah.
00:10:24
Speaker
And then the movie was I mean, not incredibly accurate because we're set in two different places, but like the the pace of the story yeah and some a lot of the events of the story really line up.
00:10:36
Speaker
And then we have this one. Yeah. Where about the only thing that is similar is the fact that the character is named Walter Mitty and he has a lot of these daydreams. That's it. Yeah.
00:10:52
Speaker
that's it there He does have, in the short story, he's married and he's driving his wife kind of through town and through her errands and running errands on their like trip to town for the week.
00:11:05
Speaker
In the 1947 movie, he is engaged, still living with his mother. And working at a publishing company.
00:11:15
Speaker
in the In the short story, we don't, I mean, obviously he must have a job because they have enough money to have a car and do their shopping. But there's no real indication of what he does for work. Yeah, no. The 1947 movie, he works for a publishing company that publishes like fantastic pulp ah magazines, right? These fantastic stories, murder stories and monster stories and vampires. And and so there's a lot of fantasy stories.
00:11:40
Speaker
within his job to begin with. But even his boss is constantly henpecking him, telling him, you know, you need to get your head on the clouds. You need to come back to reality. You need to, you know, be a part more a part of what's going on around you.
00:11:55
Speaker
ah The little synopsis that I wrote, I'm kind of proud of. So you're just gonna have to bear with me.
00:12:02
Speaker
Walter Mitty is henpecked by his mother, his boss, his fiance, his future mother-in-law, and a poodle. Barely getting through life with his head in the clouds, things become even more complicated when he meets a mysterious woman, Rosalind.
00:12:19
Speaker
Rosalind enlists Mitty to help find some crown jewels hidden during World War II. His real-life adventures become more and more unbelievable than even his fantasies were.
00:12:32
Speaker
And the protagonists, the people that are trying to you know find him and kill him to get these crown jewels... use that against him later on trying to convince everyone that none of this even happened he was Walter was just fantasizing all of it like he always does this movie need to know what is the vibe like what how are we feeling about this movie I'm gonna tell you I probably would have loved this movie in 1947 hate this movie now i hate this movie now
00:13:05
Speaker
I couldn't stand it. I was excited because it has... has Danny Kaye in it. Yeah, Danny Kaye in it. And I love Danny Kaye. Most of our listeners will know Danny Kaye from his role in White Christmas. Yes, one of my favorite Christmas movies and crystals.
00:13:22
Speaker
It is... um I was excited to see Danny Kaye. h But the movie... So James Thurber was still alive when this movie was written and produced.
00:13:37
Speaker
And he was contacted several times to help with the script, which he did. And then... he didn't like it. Samuel Goldwyn Sr. would throw out all of James Thurber's notes and ended up writing a script that played to Danny Kaye's strengths.
00:13:54
Speaker
The singing and the dancing. You could tell. And you could tell. You could tell. Because all of these fantasies... were musical numbers. i was like, oh my gosh, he's singing. he's And the longest musical numbers ever.
00:14:10
Speaker
The longest. So long. First half, I was okay in the first half. like The first half was, it was decent. Right. And then that musical number came on That was like in the middle.
00:14:24
Speaker
Yeah. For damn reason. was like, oh my God. It's still going. It's still going. Like, honestly, like was like kind of zoning out for second. I totally zoned out. Zoned back. Came back. We pulled a MIDI.
00:14:37
Speaker
Yeah. We all zoned out. We really did. We pulled a MIDI and I came back to reality and we're still singing. It's still going. Yeah. The number is still active and I needed to wrap it up.
00:14:51
Speaker
We need to wrap it up. there are I will say the 1947 movie does have a couple of elements in it that are closer to this story then the version.
00:15:03
Speaker
Within the story, James Thurber uses the phrase to pocket a pocket a pocket a pocket a repeatedly to indicate motor sounds, the sounds of enemy fire, the sounds of the machines in the in the operating room.
00:15:17
Speaker
And we hear Danny Kaye say that within some of his fantasies. Also, a couple of the fantasies are similar to the fantasies from the short story. However, there are definitely extras.
00:15:31
Speaker
the surgeon okay The Surgeon Fantasy. Surgeon Fantasy was funny. Crying laughing. okay When he brought out the knitting needles. Right? That's like a dream that you have. Exactly. You're like performing surgery and then also you bring out knitting needles to stitch something together.
00:15:49
Speaker
It was... Danny Kaye is a comedian and a singer. And this movie was the perfect, I'm going to say quintessential again. And I keep saying it because it's a word that is used in the 2013 movie. But it he Danny Kaye was perfect for this script.
00:16:09
Speaker
But this script was written for Danny Kaye. So that makes sense. Yeah. yeah And then randomly, so like we have Walter Mitty. He's engaged. He has these weird fantasies. His mom keeps telling him, well get your head out in the clouds. you know He brings home a rake and she's like, I told you to bring home a cake.
00:16:25
Speaker
you know um and he's engaged to Gertrude. there's like There's like four subplots going on in this movie too. Because I'm not even going to lie. there was like I had to keep like rewinding.
00:16:39
Speaker
to figure out what was going on. Because I was like, did I zone out or something and come back in? Because all of a sudden, we're like it's like the Indiana Jones up in here, and we're like running to get some gems. like I don't understand what's going on. Seriously, there were – I just don't want to use the word because the word flags us for things on some programs. Yeah.
00:17:02
Speaker
and some But there were German soldiers, former German soldiers from World War II, the not good ones, that were chasing... at Like, even that showed up in this movie.
00:17:15
Speaker
But I mean, it was right after World War II, so that kind of makes sense. But at the same time, we got that going on. ah Crown Jewels from, was it Norway, Denmark, something like that. The Dutch Crown Jewels, that's what it was.
00:17:25
Speaker
Yeah. We've got... There's a suitor for his. fiance For Walter Mitty's fiance. There's some guy whose character's name. I can't remember. Who's going after Gertrude on the side.
00:17:39
Speaker
We have the boss. Is trying to. like His boss at the publishing company. Is trying to like get him to get. Some prints or whatever. Proofs off to to be printed.
00:17:51
Speaker
so we got that going on. there're singing There's singing. There's dancing. there's There's a guy in a wheelchair who's who's faking it. like It's just all kinds of weird, crazy all over the place. There are birds. bird There's a wedding.
00:18:09
Speaker
that get There's a like well it's not runaway groom. yeah like There's a random guy on a horse.
00:18:17
Speaker
And then at one point, the Rosalind character, she sneaks in to Walter Mitty's mom's house. And in order to, like, let him know she's there without waking anyone else up in the house, she decides to play the piano?
00:18:34
Speaker
What? I just you it was that's what you do when you're trying to make sure you don't wake anyone up when they're asleep. Right. ah just It just it's it is one of those movies that I feel like was perfect. if If your only entertainment like at the time was going to a movie theater and you wanted to get your money's worth being there.
00:18:57
Speaker
and you really wanted the full you wanted to watch five movies at once there's a there's a poker game there's a well it's a fantasy but it's like there's all kinds of like a southern bell he tries to like i don't know somebody loses the plantation in a poker it's all crazy and there's there's a oh there's women there's like a lingerie fashion show like a corset fashion show oh yeah He's just sitting there like, watching it.
00:19:27
Speaker
Yeah. Trying not to be suspicious. It is... i can't... Honestly, the more we talk about it, the more I think, maybe that was a really good movie.
00:19:39
Speaker
So I will probably be watching that again. It is like the definition of like bonkers. Like it was literally bonkers. I feel like this would, it would have been way more fun if I wasn't watching, sitting at home, watching it alone at like five in the afternoon. You know what i mean? Like it's one of those that like, it would be more fun if you're watching it with other people, maybe a few glasses of wine and we could all laugh about it. You know? we're all like, what the hell is going on?
00:20:02
Speaker
Pretty much. Pretty much. The author hated it so much though. He offered the producer $10,000. Yeah. And he wrote a letter to Life Magazine, op-ed, about how much he hated this movie. Mm-hmm.
00:20:16
Speaker
Like, okay. Which today, $10,000 today. get the the numbers. Get the numbers. $145,699.54. Mm-hmm.
00:20:26
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
2013 Movie Introduction and Initial Impressions
00:20:29
Speaker
It was not the best. But not the worst, apparently, now that they think on it. was kind of cool. but Yeah. After talking about it, might have to do a rewatch.
00:20:39
Speaker
Right? So now I want to talk about the 2013 movie because to me this I like this one way better. Way better.
00:20:53
Speaker
This is first time watching it. I've never seen it. I watched it probably when it came out. Like within six months of it coming out. So it's been at least ten years. And I didn't remember a chunk of it.
00:21:09
Speaker
I forgot how much I loved it, honestly. Lindsay, have you seen it? That was my first time. Really? yeah okay. I thought you had already seen it before. Well, I'm so glad I picked this then. Yeah.
00:21:22
Speaker
Well, because, and legit, I had not read the story or seen the 1947 movie. And so when we decided we were going to do Adventure Month, I was like, oh, I remember liking this movie and he had an adventure.
00:21:33
Speaker
i had no idea yeah that it was the short story is perfect for the theme, but I had no idea that the short story was all about this dude and his like fantasy adventures. You know what I mean? Like, well, now we know.
00:21:45
Speaker
Yeah. oh The 2013 movie. Again, we have Walter Mitty, who's. Pretty mild-mannered, chill dude. He does not live with his mother or his wife.
00:21:59
Speaker
In fact, Walter's single and Ani Harmony. And that's how the movie opens. Oh my gosh. It was so unexpected. I love it. i kind of loved that first opening scene where he's on eHarmony. He wants to send a wink, but it's not working. So he like, well, first he's like, do I do it? Do I not do it? Do I do it? he's hovering over the button. nervous Because like, as somebody who did eye online dating for a hot minute, like, oh, yeah, that's a real, like, initiating that first contact is the most nervous thing in the world.
00:22:33
Speaker
And he is wanting to wink. at Cheryl what was her name Melhoff Melhoff yeah and who is played by Kristen Wiig and like we find out that so he calls eHarmony to say like I tried to do it and it wouldn't do it so that I hit it a thousand times what's going on and he calls eHarmony and a human answers the phone which we all know is definitely a fantasy yeah
00:23:00
Speaker
The human's name is Ted, played by Patton Oswalt, who I love. h So that was kind of fun. And right away, i I listened to the sound. i was like, wait, because I didn't remember this part of the plot at all.
00:23:10
Speaker
and And I listened to the voice and I was like, oh I think I know who that is. So I'm like Googling it right away. Like, I was right. Yeah. I went in blind again. Like, I didn't know. though Obviously, the only person I really knew was Ben Stiller. That was in it.
Ben Stiller's Portrayal and Film Fantasy Elements
00:23:24
Speaker
And I didn't know any of the cast in it going into it. And every single person was like, oh, my God. Oh, my God. did the same thing. love it. We have Ben Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Adam Scott, Catherine Hahn, Patton Oswalt, and Sean Penn, and a handful of others.
00:23:42
Speaker
This was packed cast. Yeah. It was crazy. It was pretty amazing. um But, he you know, he's trying to get a hold of eHarmony because he's trying to figure out if there's something wrong with his account.
00:23:53
Speaker
And Ted from eHarmony says, well, I noticed you haven't filled out very many of your sections. And this section is like, been there, done that. Tell us where you've been. He's like, well, haven't really been anywhere. And he's like, well, tell us, have you done anything?
00:24:05
Speaker
goes, not anything worth writing down. And of course, he has a few fantasies along the way. The first one is he's saving a dog from a burning building, which of course is not just any dog. It's Kristen Wiig's dog.
00:24:21
Speaker
This was so funny because I was watching it with my family and nobody knew. And obviously I had just I'd already watched the old movie and then I had already read the book.
00:24:32
Speaker
But no one with me knew how... I think only my sister knew. Knew how the movie was going to go. and when that whole fantasy scene happened...
00:24:43
Speaker
They didn't realize it was a fantasy scene yet. They were like, what the hell is going on? Like, what is this movie? And I was cracking up. That's hilarious. Because it's so extra. Like, it's literally like he's jumping off building. It's very seamless the way we we move from reality to his fantasy.
00:25:00
Speaker
Like, if you're if you didn't know it was going to happen, it kind of takes you. And there were a couple of times when I was like, wait, oh, wait, this is a fantasy. I had to, like, remind. Because he'll fantasize conversations, too. Just a regular conversation. Yeah.
00:25:12
Speaker
know he'll He'll fantasize a witty comeback or, you know, like making a graceful exit or whatever. When in reality, he's just going off on someone. Right. Going off on his boss.
00:25:24
Speaker
And so you kind of, part of you is like, wait, is this part real or is it not real? Some of the fantasies are huge and obviously freaking fantasies. Like jumping into the burning building and coming out with a dog and being like, by the way, I made him a prosthetic on my way down the stairs. Like like Benjamin White. Yeah.
00:25:41
Speaker
Oh my god. The Benjamin Button fantasy was so bad. Oh my gosh. When I saw that, I was screaming. Because if anyone has listened to our bonus episode, we were talking about how we cover the Curious Case of Benjamin Button as a practice episode between the three of us.
00:26:01
Speaker
And I was thinking that when we read that short story. like, oh my god. I was like, no, not Benjamin Button. Don't ruin it for me, guys. This full circle moment.
00:26:13
Speaker
It really was.
Plot Setup and Walter's Quest
00:26:15
Speaker
But we find out that, you know, Ben Stiller works or Walter Mitty works at Life magazine, which has been bought out and is being, what's the word? Reorganized is the word they like to use in corporate speak. Basically, they're going to fire everybody and everybody knows it.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah. And it turns into this, like, who's going to stay and who's not going to stay. And that's when Adam Scott comes in, Ted, who is like the the director of reorganization, whatever.
00:26:46
Speaker
His beard is crazy. his beard is crazy. It is such a weird beard. So bad. But, you know, he comes in and he's, he notices that Walter Mitty is zoning out, basically.
00:27:04
Speaker
And he starts instantly kind of makes Walter the target, right? of Of all of his pettiness, I guess. um We find out that Walter is in charge of the negatives that the field photographers send.
00:27:22
Speaker
And one of the field photographers sends a package saying, you know, number 25 is the quintessential quint quintessence of my career or something like that. Like basically saying that, that the 25th one is the perfect one. This is the one.
00:27:39
Speaker
And as they're pulling the negatives out and putting them in the little book sheet thing, they notice that 25 is missing. Also Sean O'Connell, the field photographer, has sent Walter a little gift saying that basically like, I know that we're probably not going to work together after this. And I want, you know, I appreciate you having taken care of my life's work as well as as well as you have.
00:28:05
Speaker
And it's a wallet with the light the motto of Life Magazine in there, which for whatever dumb reason, I did not put in my notes today, but it's beautiful if you guys want to look it up.
00:28:17
Speaker
So he has this wallet he puts kind of in his pockets. As the dude saying like, hey, negative 25 isn't here. And he's like, wait, what? And um that's when Adam Scott comes downstairs and he's all like, hey, dude, ah we just got a telegram from Sean O'Connell in the field. And he says 25 is the one that we should look at for the cover.
00:28:40
Speaker
that I want to see it. and You know, pretty much. And of course, this is when Walter realizes he's screwed. And we we end up kind of following him along on his quest to find this negative, which leads him into talking to Kristen Wiig and, you know, enlisting her help because she, I guess, is in charge of field assets. So basically keeps track of where the photographers are going to be and what assignment she wants to send them on and where to send their paychecks and stuff. And she kind of helps him try to figure out where he is.
00:29:14
Speaker
um And they use some of the photographs um that were the rest on that film strip. to try to figure out where he could be. This could have been a really nice, this would have fit well in our mysteries theme month because it was solving the little clues and the breadcrumbs and looking at these photographs. It really made me happy. But we also find out the subplot here is that Walter Mitty's mom is moving into some sort of like retirement apartments type thing.
00:29:47
Speaker
And they're trying to save her piano. That was a gift from their dad who has already passed. Walter's mom is played by Shirley MacLaine, who this is a very small role, but it's a really impactful role.
00:30:03
Speaker
who You know, she she doesn't say a ton to Walter. It's more just kind of background talking. And of course, Walter's sister is played by Catherine Hahn.
00:30:14
Speaker
And she's an actress, but like a community theater type, smaller church theater type actress. And Shirley MacLaine doesn't in any way whatsoever downplay her actress child or her super professional son who with his head in the clouds, she obviously is like this nurturing mom. And now Walter's kind of taken on this whole, like, I've got to make sure that mom gets her piano and mom gets moved in safely. and And it's obviously a stress in his life. We kind of see him repeatedly going back to his checkbook and putting in all of the, you know, the bills that he's paid and moving the piano and storing the piano. And now they've got to move mom into a different apartment because the piano wouldn't fit in the first one.
00:31:02
Speaker
who and so we kind of see these very mundane aspects to Walter Mitty's life. To kind of counterpoint these real crazy fantasies he's having, you know, yeah like at one point he's in the park with Kristen Wiig, who had to go grab her son from something.
00:31:21
Speaker
And um he's literally fantasizing his life with her, but as Benjamin Button. What I think is interesting with the movie, at this movie, is that all the fantasies are involving this relationship.
00:31:40
Speaker
Yes. With this person. It's not like these heroic acts of like doing like these random things that you fantasize about. It's all revolving around this potential like love interest. Right.
00:31:52
Speaker
Minus the Stretch Armstrong Yes. stra Oh, also the boss one. The boss where telling off your boss. and telling them right That actually occurs like almost immediately after this Benjamin Button scene.
00:32:06
Speaker
Is when he ends up in the elevator with um Adam Scott. yeah And somehow, like, they... It's like this epic superhero battle between and Stiller and Adam Scott.
00:32:21
Speaker
It starts an elevator that I... I and just, you know what, this is kind of what I live for. like knows it is it was at first I was like, oh, he just hit Adam Scott. And then I was like, oh, he hit him back.
00:32:38
Speaker
yeah Now they're flying. i just kept thinking. Now they're running the streets. I just kept thinking. I was like, man, Adam Scott, he's such a jerk in this movie that Ben Stiller then put him in severance.
00:32:51
Speaker
And now he's torturing him in severance.
Walter's Real Adventures and Discovery
00:32:54
Speaker
There you go. That's what you get when you're mean to Walter Mitty. Just saying. yeah So Walter kind of decides that at this point, the only way he's going to end up getting this negative is not by tracking down...
00:33:12
Speaker
Sean O'Connell, the photographer, by calling him, he's going to have to literally go chase him down. This is where instead of constantly fantasizing about these big grand adventures, he goes on one.
00:33:29
Speaker
And there's this beautiful moment, which is like very famous in the movie, where he's leaving the building. Because I don't know if he gets... Does he get fired at this point, though?
00:33:41
Speaker
No, not yet. Okay, so he's leaving the building, and he's walking across like all like the life photos and stuff. And it's like he's in front of the one of himself. Mm-hmm.
00:33:53
Speaker
As an yeah astronaut. And then there's like... I want to talk about the aesthetic. Like the cinematography of it. And all... like The colors used in the movie is...
00:34:08
Speaker
Literally perfection of like the blues and the reds are so beautiful. Like offset by that gray silver going on. like i could not get over it.
00:34:21
Speaker
Plus the soundtrack because you know i love the soundtrack. The soundtrack is amazing. The soundtrack. Plus the color scheme that they're putting with, I'm like, I see you.
00:34:32
Speaker
i know what's going on and I'm loving it. I'm really loving it Beautiful subplots to the storytelling is there. went on an incredible rabbit hole on Life Magazine over the last few days. Mm-hmm.
00:34:46
Speaker
Like I was looking up like when did they last published stop publishing weekly when did they stop publishing monthly when did they stop doing special editions when did they go to fully online like and all that because it was always been a photo journalism magazine.
00:34:59
Speaker
And so it was a visual medium right it was all about the visual so for this movie to have. genuinely embraced that that visual and and make you want to look, make you not want to just look at the surface, but genuinely watch and pay attention.
00:35:19
Speaker
was really beautiful. Yeah, I loved it. So at this point, one of the photographs points and Walter to Greenland. So he hops a flight to Greenland and he goes to track down where this ship in the photograph was last docked and where he thinks O'Connell got last got mail.
00:35:37
Speaker
And it's like this bar, this random bar in Greenland pub type thing in this Marina that is populated by like a whopping eight people. And some dude is singing karaoke, really drunk karaoke about losing and his girl.
00:35:55
Speaker
And at one point Walter realized it, well, they get in a kind of a tussle because the dude wants him to sing with him and you know, Walter Mitty's not the karaoke type. So he's like, no, I don't want to sing. I'm here on business. I'm busy. i don't want to sing.
00:36:08
Speaker
And then he realizes as they're getting in this tussle that like, oh, ah recognize that dude's thumb. I saw a picture of it. So he's like, wait, you know, Sean. And so he starts talking to this dude and he's like, yeah, we fly their mail to the ship. Sometimes it's right out there and I have to get on there. But dude's drunk. He's trash drunk.
00:36:27
Speaker
And Walter Mitty's like, yeah, I'm not going with you. Which is the right answer, no matter how adventurous you are. yeah But then he fantasizes Kristen Wiig singing Ground Control to Major Tom.
00:36:40
Speaker
And like, this is dedicated to Walter Mitty style. You know, or you know, you know what I mean? And she starts singing Ground Control to Major Tom and she had told him previously that the song was about courage and bravery. And so this like inspires Walter Mitty to like jump into the already lifting off helicopter.
00:37:00
Speaker
but How do you go from mild-mannered? I'm sorry, but I love this part. this was This scene was moving, but I'm over here like, not me.
00:37:11
Speaker
yeah like Couldn't be me. Love it for you, but couldn't be me. Nope. Nope. Go get your man, Walter, but I'll be over here. inspiring you to be adventurous for the guy who's literally so intoxicated, can't even see straight, driving a helicopter.
00:37:29
Speaker
No, thank you. But I mean, you do you, boo. But right I'm going to watch you from over here on my couch and cheer you on. Exactly. but So they're in the helicopter flying to go drop off the mail at the ship. I'm sorry.
00:37:46
Speaker
And the drunk pilot is like, okay. You know, Walter's like, okay, where do we land on this ship? He's looking down. It's not a really big ship. and The pilot says, oh I usually just toss out the mail. You're going to have to jump.
00:38:02
Speaker
And he's like, what? He's like just jumping to the boat. There's like a little lifeboat like coming out to like catch whatever gets thrown out. and He's like, just jump towards the boat. Just jump towards the He jumps the wrong way towards the big boat instead towards the lifeboat.
00:38:20
Speaker
just bloops into the North Sea. like No big deal. I think my favorite part is when there's like a fan in the water and the captain of the boat is like, we're out here studying porpoises. It's a porpoise.
00:38:36
Speaker
And he's like, I don't think it's a porpoise. And the captain's like, it's a porpoise. It's a porpoise. And then of course we see like the big jaw's mouth and the captain's like, definitely not a porpoise.
00:38:47
Speaker
I just was like crying because he had like their mail, which had the radio parts. And whenever he gets on the ship, he's like, so can we contact Sean by radio? And they're like, you had the radio.
00:39:01
Speaker
And it's now in the ocean. see There are so many parts of this movie that are absolutely hilarious, but it's really such a touching movie. Yeah. and it just It's it's a little contradictory in that it's not a comedy.
00:39:16
Speaker
Yeah. But Adam Scott and Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig, you know what i mean? like it's But it's not a comedy. just keep seeing him. He's there. You gotta jump in the boat.
00:39:28
Speaker
And literally, I was literally going on those waves like insanely. like No one's landing in that boat. Listen, I've been on North Sea TikTok. That wasn't that bad.
00:39:40
Speaker
But it was bad. Yeah. So he gets to the boat. The boat says, no, Sean was just here, but we dropped him off in Iceland a few hours ago. And he was like, why are we going back? And they're like, well, yeah, we'll be there in the morning.
00:39:52
Speaker
So they get to Iceland. Ben Stiller's like, okay, where do I find him? And like he's got this piece of paper that Sean had written some notes on that instinct indicates he's going to this volcano in Iceland.
00:40:05
Speaker
And so he's like, okay, how do I get to the volcano? And dude's like... ride the bike 15 miles that way and so he runs for the bike he starts riding and it is some of the most again the cinematography like insane beautiful amazing vistas like i so i want to go to iceland now i don't know about y'all but i want to go to iceland now so he's riding his bike through these beautiful vistas he but think that's the part when he also says stay gold pony boy
00:40:37
Speaker
Yeah, the guy on the boat. That's hilarious. The guys on the boat, like one guy speaks English kind of well, but he keeps just like randomly saying like English phrases that he thinks might sound cool. Like he's like, I'll see you on Sesame Street.
00:40:52
Speaker
Just random stuff he's probably heard on television is very funny. Well, it's so funny because Catherine Han says stay gold pony boy in Step Brothers. Yup. He's married to Adam Scott in that movie.
00:41:06
Speaker
Oh. Yes. I hadn't even thought of that. Yes. So, we, you know, he rides to where he thinks the dude's going to be crashes his bike, ends up like trading his Stretch Armstrong for a longboard.
00:41:22
Speaker
And which that's a bad trade. Yeah, that's a terrible trade. ger trade But he gets the longboard and he rides the longboard to the volcano.
00:41:34
Speaker
i just listen. This was a again our beautiful moment. But when you don't see any other people and everybody's heading the other direction, maybe don't go towards the volcano.
00:41:48
Speaker
Yeah. but True. Anyways, turns out the volcano is about to actively erupt and the dude who like told him where Sean would be, like comes flying in this car to pick him up and be like, no, dude, we're evacuating. There's an eruption, which he first called an erection. And that was hilarious.
00:42:07
Speaker
Also, eHarmonyGuy recently calling, saying that about updating his profile. Yeah, what are you up to now? i Originally, they were like, you need to update your profile because it's like there's a blank in certain spots, especially like places that you need to fill in of places that you've been and things that you've done. And he's like, I haven't done anything.
00:42:28
Speaker
and Or i haven't been anywhere. And now he's like, well, I just... Like, I just punched a shark or whatever. Yeah. Now I get to add that to my profile. He's like, now you're getting so many likes.
00:42:42
Speaker
Or so many. are Yeah, It was really freaking funny. But now he decides that, like, hey, I can't find Sean. I'm just going to have to go home. Like.
00:42:53
Speaker
this This is all I got. And he goes home. And of course, Adam Scott is all like, I told you i wanted that picture the next time I saw you. I see you and you don't have a picture. You're freaking fired.
00:43:04
Speaker
And so he leaves and he goes running back to his mom's house, who now has this new place. And the piano's there and he like empties out his pockets. He's kind of feeling like a failure. He just spent all this money on his trip to Greenland and Iceland and didn't even get what he went for. And he's kind of like, he throws the wallet in the trash can, like forget this guy.
00:43:27
Speaker
and he goes and sits down on the couch and he realizes that one of the photos from the negative film strip was of his mother's freaking piano.
00:43:39
Speaker
Because there's a ding. Or a little nick. Out of the exact same spot. And he says mom. Did. Sean O'Connell take a picture. Of your piano.
00:43:51
Speaker
And she was like well no I took the picture with his camera. And he's like. He was here. so was like yeah I told you about it. With the grocery store a couple weeks ago. But you must have zoned out. and like yeah So that was another. Walter Biddy moment.
00:44:07
Speaker
Either way. um His mom is able to give him enough clues to figure out where he thinks he's going to be. And he decides to go. and he goes to like the mountainous regions of Afghanistan to shoot snow leopards. And so he finds these Sherpas and we see little bits written into his travel journal about where he's been and where he's going and how he's feeling and what's happening.
00:44:32
Speaker
and he's climbing these mountains in the Himalayas. And um he finally comes across Sean, and sean's like what are you doing here he's like a hello pretty much he's like i'm trying to work can be quiet please because he's trying to take a picture of the snow leopards and walter's like dude i can't find negative 25 and you told me that was gone he's in the mountain like i tracked you down like we've been trying to reach you about your car's extended warranty
00:45:05
Speaker
It was very, like... and And Sean is like, you're sitting on it. I put it in the wallet. Remember the wallet that I sent you? And he's like, I threw it away.
00:45:18
Speaker
And Sean's like, well, now I know how you feel about me. but It was kind of a really... I don't know, kind of a funny moment. Like, they just kind of talked for a few minutes, and then it was, they moved into, like, very, shan honestly, this is a very Sean Penn role.
00:45:37
Speaker
it was kind of perfect, and it moves into this, like, traveled, wise traveler type situation. yeah And the next thing you know, Walter Mitty's, you know, playing soccer with some Afghani kids out on a field, and like okay with the fact that he threw away the negative and it doesn't matter. He just had this great adventure and he just is okay with life at this
Conclusion and Walter's Personal Growth
00:46:07
Speaker
point. And so he flies home and when he gets home, he has to tell his mom, I lost my job and, you know, I can't find, you know, the negative.
00:46:20
Speaker
And then so so they ended up selling a piano because his mom's goingnna need the money. And they're at the piano store selling the piano, this old antique piano. And the guy gives him a check. And he tells his mom that basically she's like, put it in your wallet. And he's like, I don't have a wallet. And she was like, oh, ah ah pulled this one out of the trash for you. always saved your, you know, your trinkets.
00:46:42
Speaker
And he was like, holy crap. Like pulls out the little tiny envelope with the one negative in it. And then he goes back down to Life Magazine and kind of throws it in Adam Scott's face. And is like, you don't have to be a jerk just because you can.
00:46:56
Speaker
And there was a beautiful speech that I'm not prepared to tell you because I didn't write it down. He was like something about like put that on your plaque on your desk. next job up or something. Yeah. Yeah.
00:47:08
Speaker
Which maybe that's on a plaque in Severance. Somebody go watch Severance and see if it's there. I have seen Severance. Is it there? ah keep meaning to watch it. It's on my list. Anyway, so so he doesn't even bother to look at the picture.
00:47:22
Speaker
and he gets his stuff and leaves. Flash forward a few days later, Walter Mitty is going to pick up like his severance package from but they'll the magazine. And he goes into, the I guess, payroll or HR or whatever. And he says, you know, Walter Mitty and they hand him his envelope.
00:47:41
Speaker
And he starts to walk out and he sees Cheryl, Kristen Wiig, from the back of her head. And instantly I was like, oh, he recognizes the back of her head, just like another book we read.
00:47:53
Speaker
yeah hu a Farm girl. yeah The first line. Yep. A little creepy. But anyways. So he kind of like walks a little faster. and He's like, hey, hey, Cheryl, Cheryl.
00:48:05
Speaker
And, you know, she stops and they kind of talk for a minute. And she said, you know, did you ever find it? Did you? You know, and he was like. Yeah. You know, she's like, well, what was it? and He's like, I didn't, I didn't even look.
00:48:18
Speaker
And she was like, well, you know, was published this morning or released this morning. We should go look and see if it's, you know, what it was. And they go find the final copy.
00:48:28
Speaker
And it says something along the lines of, I'm paraphrasing the, you know, final edition dedicated to all the people who made life worth living or something along those lines.
00:48:39
Speaker
And it's a picture of Walter Mitty underneath the big marquee on the building of the, of the life magazine building, but he's just sitting on a stone bench looking at a negative sheet eight It was a really beautiful photo.
00:48:58
Speaker
And it it was just kind of full circle moment.
Podcast Reflection and Listener Engagement
00:49:01
Speaker
that I love that. Because the whole time I was like, what is it? What is it? i think it was just people who made it or something yeah like that. And I was like, oh my gosh. i didn't i honestly had no idea what to expect.
00:49:14
Speaker
I kind of remembered, but I couldn't remember. yeah and And so it was just one of those moments that it was like... um I know. That's how, yeah, that was kind of my reaction. It was really perfect. And that is why this movie in my mind gets a five.
00:49:31
Speaker
Yeah. If I, if I rated everything individually, this movie gets a five. I gave the movie itself a four and a half because It did feel a little... I usually don't like a self-discovery kind of movie type thing. That's usually not what I gravitate towards.
00:49:53
Speaker
But I really like this. It just felt a little too long. Just a tiny bit too long for me. That's fair. Lindsay, how do you feel about the movie in general?
00:50:04
Speaker
Just the last movie. I give it a four. I liked it. So let me tell you my thoughts on the movie overall, because they made me cry.
00:50:17
Speaker
so I don't want make you cry, maybe. but So the whole idea behind the movie is that here's this Walter, and honestly, both movies and kind of the book, is that here's this dude who's your everyman average Joe, who has all these grand ideas, these grand fantasies, these grand plans, but never acts on them.
00:50:40
Speaker
And we see in the 1947 movie, he's forced into action by circumstances and a woman who won't leave him alone. And in the 2013 movie, we see that Walter is...
00:50:57
Speaker
he's not He's definitely not forced into anything, but he is pushed a little by Kristen Wiig to be brave and be courageous. And that reminds me of us who had all these grand plans of making a podcast and all these ideas and thoughts and fantasies of what it could be like.
00:51:18
Speaker
And one day we just took that brave step. ah So ground control to based on a book. Here we are. ah Wow. That's so cute.
00:51:32
Speaker
So here we are. Definitely Mitty no longer. Nope. know But that does talk about it all the time. And now look at us. Right. We talked about it for forever.
00:51:43
Speaker
and it's sooner or later we had to do it. Right. Who would have thought. not
00:51:52
Speaker
No, not me either, honestly. Here we are, what, 35, 40 episodes somewhere along the way? don't know where we are. what thirty five forty episodes somewhere along the way i don't know where we are We're yeah like 37, I think at this point. We're in it.
00:52:07
Speaker
We're in it. We're so in it. And it's been almost a year since we first had that first meeting where we were like, okay, do we really want to do this? Yeah, let's do it. Yeah, we are.
00:52:19
Speaker
But that does bring me to the question of the episode, which is when you find yourself daydreaming or zoning out, where do you go? For instance, I am usually mentally rearranging furniture or decorating a new house or designing a garden for a house that I saw on Zillow and fell in love with but can't afford.
00:52:45
Speaker
We love our Zola houses. We really do. really do. I try to like try to look at the ones that are more within my own budget, but I don't have a very big budget and those houses are boring. so's That's no fun.
00:52:58
Speaker
It's no fun. I have some grand plans. going to need this podcast to take off so I can get one of those houses, please. yeah yeah while While we're fantasizing.
00:53:09
Speaker
my Sponsors? Anyone? Mine usually depend on like What I'm obsessing over at the current moment But usually I'm like fantasizing. I'm like, like I said, I'm a big thrifter. i always like talk about thrifting all the time, especially i go um thrifting for like used books a lot.
00:53:33
Speaker
So like I'm always fantasizing about just finding like the craziest, like best thing like a used bookstore, like something that I've been looking for for so long.
00:53:47
Speaker
A edition or a signed copy or yes. Something like that. Especially if I know I'm going, like I just did a book shopping trip recently. If I know I'm going soon, I'm like just picturing all the crazy cool things I can find.
00:54:03
Speaker
Just dreaming about it. ah do that a lot. And then it's just 87 copies of Janet Ivanovich, One for the Money. Yeah. 87 copies of like Nora Roberts. Yep.
00:54:15
Speaker
I'm like, damn it. But now you know to look for John Grisham titles at least. You didn't know before, but they're there. promise you.
00:54:27
Speaker
That's what you learn at Based on the Blood. You learn something new. Every day. What about you, Lindsay? Where do you go? When I'm not making up fake scenarios or having fake conversations in my head, danger about quitting my job and becoming a writer.
00:54:47
Speaker
kind of feeling want that for you i want that for you hardcore i don't but i only if i also get to quit my job because i don't think i can go to work without you i know we all have to quit at the same time we're like five six seven eight wait our poor boss he's not gonna know what happened what no two weeks notice uh no not for all three of you six weeks at minimum He's like, see ya.
00:55:14
Speaker
He'll quit too. He would. He'd be like, and we're done. what Sometimes I'll be like daydreaming about arguments all the time. I do that too. I always replay a conversation in my head and have the best comebacks. But in the moment, like, no.
00:55:31
Speaker
I got like the head roll and everything. Like as I'm going in Yes. I'm by myself. Someone looks over. They're like, what in the hell is she doing? Yeah.
00:55:42
Speaker
Replaying something that happened three weeks ago. Don't worry about it. It's your business. All right. Pretty much. oh Lord. Well, I think that about does it, ladies.
00:55:56
Speaker
Thank you, listeners, for joining us on our adventure this week. Next week, we will be following along Percy Jackson and crew as Carrie leads us through The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan, whose name I'm sure I just butchered.
00:56:12
Speaker
For our full schedule of episodes, check us out on our socials. We are available on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, and Blue Sky. We have tons of bonus content there, and we love to hear what you think. So be sure to follow along and say hello when you do.
00:56:29
Speaker
Until then, don't let your fantasies interrupt the adventures right in front of you. Bye.