TRAILER: Ben Stiller Directed 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' ... and It Looks Like a Stunning Real Movie

After actors make a bunch of lackluster movies, it's easy to forget that they can surprise you. Under the pile of Number 23s and The Incredible Burt Wonderstones, Jim Carrey has Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Buried beneath a stack of Grown Ups, Grown Ups sequels and Jack and Jills, Adam Sandler has Punch Drunk Love. For Ben Stiller, his recent years have been spent making Meet the Parents and Madagascar movies. It's easy to forget that, like Carrey and Sandler, Stiller can deliver a real performance every once in awhile. Actually, Stiller can do even better — he can direct too.

Stiller will prove himself in these arenas once again with The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The film tells the story of a man who loses himself in his elaborate daydreams in order to escape the dullness of his everyday life. The movie is actually a remake of a 1947 movie of the same name, which was an adaption of a 1939 short story also of the same name.

The Secret Life of Walter Mitty got its first trailer this week. Unlike most Stiller trailers, nothing blows up. There are no Viagara jokes. A giant Lincoln Memorial statue doesn't chase Stiller. In fact, there are very few words in this trailer, with Dirty Paws by Of Monsters and Men setting the tone. It's an incredibly stunning trailer, which makes me all the more eager to see The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.

The movie hits theaters on Dec. 25, and star Stiller, Kristen Wiig, Adam Scott, Patton Oswalt and Sean Penn. Head past the jump to check out the first trailer for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.