
Loz Hughes (80 KP) rated The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty (2013) in Movies
Jul 15, 2018
Whilst most people will mark this movie lower, they are not wrong in their opinions, for many it may not seem anything special as such.
However I always watch this film whenever I am feeling low or life feels a bit much, because to me, it portrays that its never too late to achieve your dreams and start your adventure.
The film itself opens to an introduction of Walter (Ben stiller), an employee of Life magazine whose job has very much taken over his life, it shows his passion for his work and how he wishes very much, to be more like the adventurous photographer he chronicles. Walter is ridiculed and undermined by his work colleagues for his "spaced out" episodes where he dreams of what he would do or achieve if he were braver, smarter, more confident etc, like an alter ego of sorts.
Walter is then faced with a choice to accept failure and ridicule when he loses a negative in his care or embrace the unknown and not forsake his pride in a journey to hunt down its original owner.
Throughout the film you follow Walter in his quest to search for the missing negative and also his journey on the path of becoming the man he always hoped he would be as a teenager.
Along the way, stunning vistas and scenery set the scene and the humour keeps it from being boring.
Sure the film is a little fanciful but anyone with a good imagination and an element of Walter in them will appreciate it.
My favourite scene is when he is nearly attacked by a shark.."okay. That is not a porpoise" cracks me up every time.
I know a lot of people will mark this film lower and they wont be wrong in their opinions, it doesnt really contain many special effects, it does have a really awkward romance (but lets face it, reality is full of those moments you wish you had been more charming and less of a babbling idiot) and the storyline is a bit far fetched.
However I find it fun, uplifting, charming in its own way and enjoy the travel aspect of it.

Neon's Nerd Nexus (360 KP) rated Ford v Ferrari (aka Le Mans '66) (2019) in Movies
Nov 4, 2019

Phil Leader (619 KP) rated Storm Clouds Rolling In (Bregdan Chronicles #1) in Books
Nov 26, 2019
In reality however this is a far more complex work - yes the romance is there but it is very much overshadowed by the situation and events of the time. Firstly Carrie is not a Southern Belle happy to sit on the verandah and look after her hard working man - she wants to make something of herself and doesn't think that she will be happy running her father's plantation in later life. Secondly she has grave doubts about slavery, an institution that has become the basis of the plantation owner's very existence.
This novel then is far more an exploration of the confict the slave issue creates as well as the lack of opportunity for a bright woman to better herself in the nineteenth century.
The author does well with the slavery issue in presenting someone from the whole spectrum, from reactionary pro-slavery plantation owners to equally abhorrent abolitionlists who are in many ways just as bad. Carrie is very much undecided throughout the book and that is a good thing, we are essentially treated to a novel length essay on the causes of the civil war and the justifications for slavery that caused a lot of the friction, along with the North failing to take account of the depth of the pride of those in the South.
The characters are very well drawn, and although each more-or-less repesents one particular facet of the debate none are mere ciphers and indeed many of them evolve over time and change their outlook and opinions, not lease Carrie but also of note the slaves Rose and Moses, both young but who really grow during the course of the story. The author has necessarily put some perjorative terms for slaves in the mouths of some of her characters - for which she apologises in a brief forward - but this not only lends realism but underlines those characters attitudes towards the slaves.
The book does move at a relatively slow pace, and there are plenty of discussions around politics, society and slavery but it is quite immersive and acts to let each character become far more solid.
Overall a book I enjoyed and it provides a lot of insight into the state of America at the outbreak of war and why it happened

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