54
Metascore
39 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60VarietyPeter DebrugeVarietyPeter DebrugeRather than channeling James Thurber’s satirical tone, Stiller plays it mostly earnest, spinning what feels like a feature-length “Just Do It” ad.
- 60Time Out LondonDave CalhounTime Out LondonDave CalhounCloying at times – but always good-natured.
- 60The Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyThe Hollywood ReporterDavid RooneyAudiences willing to tune in to its blend of surreal fantasy, droll comedy and poignancy will be rewarded.
- 50The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneThe result may be the oddest film of the season. It boasts an array of sublime backdrops and a yearning score, but the climate of feeling is anxious and inward, encapsulated in Stiller’s darting gaze, and the movie itself keeps glancing backward, at the lost and the obsolete.
- 50Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesAustin ChronicleKimberley JonesThe Secret Life of Walter Mitty is a very pretty production – pretty colors, pretty scenery, pretty bromides – and a busy one, too, which helps distract us from the sad fact that the movie is generous and humane but not all that interesting.
- 48Film.comDavid EhrlichFilm.comDavid EhrlichPalpably well-intentioned, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty is nevertheless phony to the core.
- 42The PlaylistRodrigo PerezThe PlaylistRodrigo PerezPart escapist action-adventure, part would-be exhilarating quest of self-discovery, The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty isn’t so much a mess because it wants to be everything at once, but because it employs hackneyed and mawkish methods to achieve a false sense of joyfulness.
- 38Slant MagazineNick SchagerSlant MagazineNick SchagerBen Stiller's aesthetics blend overly manicured imagery with soaring rock songs that underline every emotion, lest the film's corporate logo-driven message-making didn't get the point across clearly enough.
- 38New York PostKyle SmithNew York PostKyle SmithThe story of a guy who never goes anywhere or does anything. Until he goes everywhere and does everything, but he might as well have stayed home.