Get Smart

I just saw an advance screening of Get Smart and it was great! It was simply the best adaptation of a classic TV series for the big screen. I don't know how to explain it but it successfully carried the tone that the original series had. It was silly but not too silly and, at the same time, a little serious but not too serious. Familiar characters, props, music, jokes and lines all brought back fond memories of a delightful TV series. And there were plenty of new elements in this film that made it interesting and entertaining to watch. Steve Carrell was terrific as Agent 86 and seemed to capture the essence of Maxwell Smart. Not only did his portrayal of him resembled that of Don Adams' from the sound of Smart's voice to the delivery of Smart's lines, Carrell managed to inject a bit of his own personality to create a new Smart that didn't stray too far away from the old. Anne Hathaway was perfect as Agent 99. She did bear some resemblance to Barbara Feldon and actually delivered her lines in a similar manner as her at times. But more importantly, she had great chemistry with Carrell. A key ingredient to Get Smart's success was Maxwell Smart and Agent 99's chemistry and I'm glad the writers of this film didn't forget that. Feldon and Adams had terrific chemistry and so too did Hathaway and Carrell. Unlike previous film adaptations of old television series that only superficially resembled their TV series counterpart, this film can truly be considered a big screen version of the Get Smart TV series. Where Lost In Space, Mission Impossible, Charlie's Angels, Starsky and Hutch and (have I missed anything?) have failed, this film succeeded in maintaining the tone and style of the original series upon which it's based. Moreover, the filmmakers managed to bring Get Smart up to date without forgetting its roots. New ideas created for this film seemed to be natural extensions of those used for the original series. Jokes, props, music, characters and plot, old and new, all seemed to be born from the Get Smart world. I wish I could get into more details but I don't want to give anything away. I thoroughly enjoyed this film and highly recommend this to anyone, especially fans of the original TV series.

Yes, go see this movie. I know sometimes a preview looks pretty good and then the movie stinks (hello, Indiana Jones IV?) but this one does not disappoint.

I remember enjoying the "Get Smart" TV series when I was a kid, and like some other reviewers here, I feared the remake might screw it up (even though watching a couple of 5th-season episodes recently reminded me just how bad the show itself became late in the game.) But this movie version strikes just the right balance of action and comedy, while also balancing fresh ideas with welcome nods to the TV series.

After all, it wouldn't be "Get Smart" without "Would you believe...", "Sorry about that, Chief", or "Missed it by THAT much." It was also great to see such classics as the shoe phone, the Cone of Silence, Hymie the robot, and not one but two of the cars that Don Adams would have driven. But while some remakes mining the past for material have nothing new to say, and get stuck in paying homage to their predecessors, the "Get Smart" movie has a pretty good story of its own.

Now this isn't Robert Ludlum material, and I doubt anyone is real surprised to see who turns out to be a bad guy, but it's a lot of fun along the way, with either a sight gag or surprisingly good action (and often both at the same time) coming down the pike every few minutes. There just aren't really any slow spots. I'm sure a lot of funny stuff got left on the cutting room floor (surely they didn't put Carrell in a fat suit for a mere ten seconds of film) but the pacing felt just right. We can catch all that other stuff when the DVD comes out at Christmas.

Steve Carrel plays Agent 86 almost exactly the way he portrays Dunder-Mifflin's Michael Scott. He comes off as basically well-meaning and earnest, and although a bit bumbling at times, his Maxwell Smart is thankfully not Don Adam's version. Neither was this one of those "Naked Gun" characters who stumbles into success despite his incompetence; Smart has some hilariously bad moments, but is never made out to be simply a lucky fool.

Carrell and Anne Hathaway have surprisingly good chemistry, and Alan Arkin is perfect taking over Edward Platt's role as "the Chief." Former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson does a good job as Agent 23, and an even larger wrestler (7-foot 2-inch, 387-pound Dalip Singh from "The Longest Yard") is well-cast as a KAOS underling, although most of the other main bad guys are rather forgettable. Even TV-series KAOS agent Bernie Koppel shows up for a cameo, as does Patrick Warburton (who will be terrific in the inevitable sequel) and Bill Murray (almost unidentifiable hiding in a tree.)

Bottom line: you won't come out of this movie feeling as if you were cheated out of your money. Judging from the laughter in the theater and smiles in the lobby as we left, a lot of folks agreed with me. This is going to make a ton of money, and deserves it. Look for "Get Smart II" in a couple of years, and let's just hope it is as good as this one.

P.S. - It's rated PG-13, but there's very little that's objectionable for even younger viewers (Carrel rips the seat out of his pants.) Take the kids, and have a good time!

I'm going to preface this review by stating that I haven't seen the original TV series upon which this film was based on. Therefore I'm unable to draw comparisons and will just stick to reviewing this film.

One thing I did think was really good about this film was some of the casting choices; Carrell is particularly good here and is very convincing in his respective role as the bumbling & inept rookie agent. He brings a sort of naïve charm to many of his performances and I can't think of a role I've seen him in where I didn't enjoy his performance. Likewise, I think that Hathaway is a perfect compliment to Carrell and their chemistry in this was great - Hathaway pulls off the sexy, sassy & ultra confident field agent with ease. Alan Arkin is a great actor and is always watchable. Likewise, I thought Terrence Stamp was a very effective villain and was quite menacing. Even Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson (who is not the best of actors) managed to also be quite good here.

I wasn't convinced by all of the characters however; I found Koechner & Crews characters to be more annoying than funny. The same could be said of the two nerds who were also annoying rather than funny (although not as much as Koechner & Crews). Bill Murray also has a cameo in this which seemed a bit pointless to me.

The one problem with this film was its rather muddled plot- I found it to be very unfocused and it seemed to jump around from place to place and the narrative seemed to jump back and forward which made the story hard to follow at times. Although this was a problem for me, thankfully it wasn't a huge problem as I still found that I enjoyed the film as a whole even if the plot was a little scattershot at times. The main reasons that this film works is due to the excellent chemistry between Hathaway and Carrell and their great interplay makes it possible to ignore some of the issues with the plotting.

Get Smart is funny, but it's not a film that's consistently funny but rather a film that is occasionally funny - although I must admit that some of the jokes were really funny so perhaps it's just a case of quality over quantity. Whilst I haven't seen the original TV Series the closest thing that this film reminds me of is Johnny English - therefore if you enjoyed Johnny English then you should enjoy this too. Nothing spectacular, but it's definitely worth a look.

The first 10 minutes or so of "Get Smart" are kind of disappointing, and I thought "here we go, another trailer that makes the film look better than it is". But it improves greatly after that point, mainly after the first encounter of Max with Agent 99. Anne Hathaway is in some ways the life of this movie: she is incredibly sexy, with a magnificent back and legs to die for (or by), and completely believable in all her action scenes. Steve Carell has good comic timing; he may at times remind you of Leslie Nielsen in "The Naked Gun" and "Spy Hard" mode, but beyond that he manages to make Max a genuinely likable and human character, not just a cartoon. The relationship Max and 99 have formed at the end of the movie seems to be based more on friendship than anything else. The rest of the cast is generally well-chosen (although I didn't get the point of Bill Murray's 1-minute cameo); there is a big plot twist that allows one cast member to play against type, and even Dalip Singh (aka The Great Khali in WWE) comes off well, playing a huge indestructible henchman in the tradition of Jaws of "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "Moonraker".

There are some good laughs in "Get Smart", but what pleasantly surprised me is how well-done the action is. From an exhilarating freefall sequence that was probably designed as a homage to the opening of "Moonraker" to Carell's and Hathaway's quick, efficient fight scenes (choreoghraphed by a veteran at this sort of thing, James Lew), and from the explosions at the "bakery" factory to the incredibly kinetic final chase sequence involving various means of transportation, the action in this movie probably surpasses the recent James Bond pictures, helped by the fact that a lot of it seems to have been done by the actors themselves, willing to take some risks. So people who are more into action than into comedy should still get some satisfaction out of this.

Nothing brilliant, but a dependable crowd-pleaser nonetheless. I'd give it *** out of 4 stars.

OK, I'll admit I never expect much from remakes of classic TV shows. I chose to watch this while donating blood - a decision I reserve for movies I don't expect to be good enough to share with my wife. The surprise: well, it's actually pretty good!

First of all: great casting! Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway give performances that nicely reflect those in the TV series, without doing cheap impressions of the original actors. Their performances stand on their own, and Carell delivers all your favorite Max-isms ("Sorry about that, Chief", "Missed it by that much", etc.) with aplomb. But the real prize in this movie is the casting of Alan Arkin as the Chief of Control. Brilliant casting, great performance!

Even beyond the leads, the casting was outstanding - from old friends (Larabee, Siegfried, Shtarker) to new characters (notably, Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23).

In all, a fun 110 minutes that stands on its own while also paying tribute to a classic.