Book to Movie: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

 It is always interesting to me how books and stories are turned into movies and how they come alive on the big screen. I usually like to read a book first and then I like to watch the movie and compare the differences. I was very excited to get a chance to read and then watch the brand new movie, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," which stars Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig (two of my faves). These two could not be more different from each other with regard to the events that happen. It was almost as if the short story became merely a basis for Ben Stiller's character in the movie. I enjoyed both but they are quite different from each other.

The original story, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," is a very short story by James Thurber, which originally appeared in The New Yorker. Walter Mitty is a dreamer. In real life, he is married to a wife who is incredibly worried about his dreaming. Those that know him are also pretty worried that he doesn't seem to be really engaging in real life. Other than the dreaming, Walter Mitty seems to live a very quiet life.

I got to watch the movie, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," via digital HD through Google Play, which allowed me to watch the movie right on our iPad (I loved being able to take the movie with me).  I had never used Google Play before but I really liked it. The movie itself was really good. The movie really expands the short story. In the movie, Walter is not married. He is working his job as a photo processor but doesn't really excel. He just quietly does his job everyday and gets lost in a lot of daydreams.  I really loved the magical realism element to this movie. Everything is not really as it seems in this movie!

Some of the movie is really beautiful. I loved all of the far away places that Walter travels. Iceland and Afghanistan both appear in this movie and they are really gorgeous!

This is a great pick that shows that even some of our biggest fantasies can become reality if we only try!