There’s a reason why teaser trailers are called just that — they tease our imaginations with suggested possibilities, but tend to withhold the full picture. The initial teaser for Ben Stiller’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” did a great job in that regard — intriguing in its choice of sound and image, it provided several conflicting hints of where the romantic fantasy could go tonally. Now, with a complete trailer revealing more of the film to us — well, those of us who haven’t yet seen the whole thing at the New York Film Festival — it would appear that “Walter Mitty” is slightly more straightforward than it initially appeared to be.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course: there’s more Ben Stiller-style neurotic comedy at play here, but the unusual context still charms in theory. The film, as you’ve heard by now, didn’t go over in a big way with critics last weekend, though it has defenders: Kris described the film as “disheveled,” but was “touched by its emotional honesty and artistic passion.” Check out the new trailer and see what you think.