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Get Smart

Overall score:

Steve Carrell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johson and Terrence Stamp
Screenplay by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember
Based on characters created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry
Directed by Peter Segal

In 1965, when James Bond was dominating the big screen, and one year before Mission: Impossible hit the airwaves, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry intoduced Get Smart, a spy parody starring Don Adams as Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, and Barabara Feldon as the sexy Agent 99. Get Smart is best remembered for such staples as "The Cone of Silence" and "The shoe phone," and is a series that we grew up with and enjoyed. It has spawned one big screen incarnation already, the disaterous 1980 film The Nude Bomb, as well as TV reunion movie and a very short-lived followup TV series starring Andy Dick.

Thankfully, the series recieves a much better tribute in this new remake, with Steve Carrell taking over as Max, and Anne Hathaway as 99. True, this movie isn't going to be confused with high art, and has its share of shortcomings, but in what has proven so far to be an extremely weak movie month, apart from Kung Fu Panda, is a welcome excursion into dumb fun.

Maxwell Smart (Carrell) is an analyst working for C.O.N.T.R.O.L., a top secret branch of the U.S. Government, more covert than the C.I.A. In fact, C.O.N.T.R.O.L. is supposed to have been disbanded after the end of the Cold War. But there is still evil to fight, and Max aspires to one day be a field agent. He has repeatedly taken exams, and failed them, but he is up for promotion once again, and is desperate to finally achieve his long sought after goal, especially after seeing the hero worship that is lavished upon Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson), a seemingly perfect superspy who has just returned from another successful mission.

But when C.O.N.T.R.O.L. is attacked by KAOS, an evil organization intent on ruling the world, Max is suddenly given the promotion that he has desired, and is paired with a top agent, 99 (Hathaway), who is stunningly attractive but deadly, and resents being given a rookie partner.

The story is really very by the numbers, as one would expect from a spy flick, let alone a spy parody, but what makes this work more than anything else is the sparkling chemistry between Carrell and Hathaway. Whenever they are on screen together, the movie is delightfully entertaining. The filmmakers wisely choose to let Max be his own character, not just a variation on Michael Scott from "The Office," but at the same time, for the most part, they just let Carrell be Carrell, though we do see a few effected Don Adams mannerisms in the third act. Hathaway really shines in this movie - not just because she makes such good eye candy, but because she adds a surprising level of believability to the character. We never would have expected that the little girl from The Princess Diaries would be such a perfect fit as an action heroine, but Hathaway pulls it off with great aplomb (she's actually more believable than the emaciated Angelina Jolie is in the disappointing WANTED.)

The supporting cast, including Terrence Stamp and and James Caan, fare nicely, but the standout, of course, is Academy Award Winner Alan Arkin as the Chief. Arkin, who all intelligent people recognize as being far more hilarious than Mike Myers in So I Married An Axe Murderer, could get laughs reading the phone book. As for Dwayne (formerly "The Rock") Johnson, we have to be clear that we are not big fans. In fact, we tend to avoid his movies like the plague. That being said, he actually works pretty well in most of the film, but unfortunately reaches a point where the character is just a little beyond his capabilities. Still, he does display some definite charisma, and could be starting to come into his own as a star if he sticks to the right vehicles and makes a Will Smith-like commitment to becoming an actor.

The movie does feature its share of juvenile humor, in particular a vomit gag that goes way too far, but still, the movie as a whole is nothing compared to what you would see in You Don't Mess With The Zohan, The Love Guru, The Happening, or any of the other lowest common denominator comedies of the summer. And the action sequences are surprisingly exciting, combining comic high-jinks with some well-staged fights and stunts.

Again, this is a not a great film, but if you are looking for light, silly escapist entertainment, you can do a lot worse.

Get Smart is Rated PG-13 for vulgarity, mild profranity, violence, brief nudity (Steve Carrell's backside) and very mild sensuality.

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Written by Patrick & Paul Gibbs on June 20th, 2008