The Secret Life of Walter Mitty begins as a series of Hallmark catchphrases before evolving into something more interesting and substantial. The title character, played as a low-key, foot shuffling dweeb by Ben Stiller (who also directs), daydreams a series of events, taking him out of his day-to-day monotony as a 16-year employee at Life magazine and into a series of mini-adventures wherein he's the hero. Cute, at first, these little scenes grow tiresome and are rarely necessary. Thankfully, about midway through, the story begins to gain steam, the daydreams go away and the film begins to actually be about a little something more than cutesy moments of escapism. Working in the photo department at Life, Mitty is tasked with prepping the latest photo from the magazine's top photographer, Sean O'Connell (Sean Penn), a photo that will serve as the final print cover image as the magazine is transitioning to a digital-only model.