The Secret Life of Walter Mitty isn’t a car film. Not remotely. In fact, if you were judging it purely by its automotive footprint, you might not even consider it relevant. There are just 22 entries on IMCDb, which in Petrolblog terms barely qualifies as a passing glance at a car park.
It’s also not new. Released in 2013, and currently sitting on a perfectly respectable but hardly breathless 7.3 on IMDb, Walter Mitty has slipped into that dangerous category of films: ones people vaguely remember liking.
And yet.
I watched it for the first time recently, and a few days later I was still thinking about it. That, for me, is always the tell. Not because it’s clever or twisty – it isn’t – but because it’s beautifully shot, gently paced and oddly soothing. In a world of algorithmically optimised stress, its earnestness feels almost rebellious.
There are faint shades of Severance in there partly because it’s also directed by Ben Stiller, partly because it features Adam Scott, but mostly because both explore the tedium of modern work life and the idea that there might be something more, somewhere else.
But the genuine revelation – at least through a Petrolblog lens – was the cars.
An American film with surprisingly un-American cars
For an American production with a big studio sheen, Walter Mitty has a wonderfully international automotive flavour. Iceland, in particular, is refreshingly unsanitised.
Instead of the usual parade of rental-spec SUVs and product placements, we get a Fiat Multipla – still gloriously awkward, still refusing to apologise for its face – and a Lada Niva, which plays a genuinely significant role in the plot.
The Niva, of course, makes perfect sense. If you’re going to hurtle across hostile, lunar landscapes to escape a volcanic eruption in something that looks like it might outlast civilisation, you could do far worse. It’s agricultural, heroic and indestructible – a proper machine, not a lifestyle accessory. And my wife said she really wants one, which is a minor result.
But that wasn’t the highlight.
If you haven’t seen it – or need a reminder – the trailer captures the moment better than any still.
Greenland. An airport. Two Daewoo Matiz
The moment that stopped me in my tracks comes earlier, in Greenland. At an airport rental kiosk – already an unlikely place to find anything interesting – sit two Daewoo Matiz.
One red.
One blue.
Yes, that Matiz. The jelly-bean city car that once populated supermarket car parks and driving schools, now inexplicably stationed at the edge of the Arctic. Was the Daewoo Matiz ever sold in Greenland? Highly doubtful. Logistically, economically and spiritually – it feels improbable at best.
And yet there they are.
At the time, I didn’t consciously clock what the scene was doing. Only later did it click: this wasn’t random casting. It was deliberate.
Red pill, blue pill – Matiz edition
The scene is a clear homage to The Matrix. Neo. Morpheus. The choice. Red pill or blue pill. Truth or comforting routine.
Here, Walter Mitty is offered the same decision, but translated into Petrolblog language.
Red Matiz or blue Matiz.
He pauses. He thinks. And then: ‘I’ll take the red one.’
It’s brilliant. The Matiz’s rounded, pill-like shape makes the metaphor visual without being obnoxious. The cars are small, slightly ridiculous and totally unsuited to the heroic journey Mitty is about to undertake – which is precisely the point.
This isn’t about horsepower or rugged credibility. It’s about choosing movement over stasis. Experience over safety. Curiosity over routine.
And somehow, against all odds, the Daewoo Matiz becomes the perfect symbol.
Why this works (and why it lingers)
Walter Mitty isn’t ironic about its cars, and that’s why they work. They’re not winking at the audience or trying to be ‘cool’. They simply exist. It doesn't even matter if you don't clock the nod to The Matrix – the cars still work.
It’s also why the film sticks with you. It’s gentle, sincere and unafraid to be a bit daft. Much like some of the best cars. And much like Petrolblog itself, it finds meaning not in the obvious places, but in the margins; in forgotten models, unlikely locations and moments that only fully land days later.
Not a car film. But unexpectedly, gloriously Petrolbloggy.
Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to ponder my own Walter Mitty moment and contemplate flying to Greenland to see if the Daewoos are still there. There's a small chance, right?
Header image: trailer still from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013). Other images via IMCDb; all rights remain with their respective owners.
