Stiller premieres ‘Walter Mitty’ at NY Film Fest

This film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Ben Stiller in “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.” AP

NEW YORK — Ben Stiller premiered his most ambitious directorial effort yet, the highly anticipated James Thurber adaptation “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty,” at the New York Film Festival.

The film screened Saturday ahead of its evening red carpet premiere at Lincoln Center. The centerpiece of the NYFF, it was a hometown launch for the New York-native Stiller, whose film is also set in the Big Apple.

But while the festival platform offered a prestigious debut for “Walter Mitty,” it also started on rocky ground with critics. The film, which Stiller directed and stars in, was met by decidedly mixed reviews that partly diffused the assumed Oscar hopes of the film.

20th Century Fox will release the movie on Dec. 25.