Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on March 2014

In a sporadically amusing remake of the 1947 classic from the story by James Thurber, Ben Stiller is a dull Life magazine photo librarian who wishes he were more exciting so he could woo and win a pretty colleague (Kristen Wiig). While he engages in action-packed, desk-bound fantasies, the film is kind of fun. Paradoxically, it’s when he gets all carpe diem and starts having actual, globetrotting adventures that the (admittedly very scenic) film loses traction. As Stiller movies go, this uneven, uninvolving bomb is closer to Night at the Museum than it is to Tropic Thunder.

Japanese title: Life! (114 min)