SWEET DREAMS

It’s no fantasy: Stiller goes global with fun & colorful ‘Walter Mitty’

Dreams not only come true in the wonderful “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” they’re the stuff everyday life is made of. That’s the startling discovery made by its title character (Ben Stiller). Until then, the undistinguished Walter is used to living in his own alternate reality, zoning out and falling into colorful daydreams. In one, he saves the residents of a burning building; in another, he fights an enemy superhero-style.

Walter works in the photo department of Life magazine. When we meet him, on his 42nd birthday, his personal life consists of balancing his checkbook and trying unsuccessfully to connect on a dating site with his co-worker Cheryl (Kristen Wiig). His own profile is broken because he left the “been there, done that” part blank, as he has actually been nowhere and done nothing.

His job presents other crises. Life magazine is shutting down. For its last cover, an oafish transition manager (Adam Scott) needs a picture Walter believes is still in the possession of a globehopping photographer (Sean Penn).

Walter decides to break out of his gray little existence and track down the wayward shutterbug, g, heading g to Greenland, , Iceland and the Himalayas, witnessing a volcano eruption and nearly getting eaten by a shark. Finally, it dawns on Walter that he has become the person he always wanted to be. And that’s when it’ll dawn on viewers that Stiller has found the perfect way to reinterpret a James Thurber short story filmed once before, as a 1947 Danny Kaye lark.

Stiller and writer Steve Conrad figured out that Walter’s journey isn’t about wish fulfillment — it spins on recapturing your own adventurous spirit.

There’s plenty of serious silliness (including a Chaplinesque taser scene), but Stiller gives the film a soul. He and Wiig have a sweet, mellow chemistry, while stunning landscapes, a soulful score and keen supporting work from Patton Oswalt, Kathryn Hahn and Penn provide lovely grace notes.

The script sometimes jams in too much to make all the dots connect, but that’s a minor fault. The story Stiller tells manages to float in a most peculiar, satisfying way. jneumaier@nydailynews.com

There’s a big divide between Walter’s (Ben Stiller) real and pretend lives. His fondest wishes involve co-worker Kristen Wiig (r.). Stiller does shots with superphotographer Sean Penn in “Secret Life.”