Get Smart

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.

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.

It's amazing how good comic delivery can elevate mediocre material. Such is the case with 'Get Smart', where Steve Carell's excellent comic timing, and his chemistry with Anne Hathaway make for a very entertaining film, despite the at times clichéd script. Basically it's a light-hearted spy spoof with pot shots directed towards the Bush administration's War on Terror. Fans of wrestler Khali will like his appearance in the film. Dwayne Johnson chips in with a decent performance. The climax is surprisingly thrilling and works well in the film. A solid recommendation.

Overall 7/10

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!

This film is about an incompetent agent who is assigned to a mission to save the world from terrorists with nuclear weapons.

I was hoping "Get Smart" to be a comedy with intelligent humour, but I was so disappointed. The plot is hopelessly contrived and full of clichés. The film is full of silly jokes that are irritating instead of funny. Those so called funny scenes are repetitive and tiring. The tooth microphone joke is not funny, but they did it three or four times. The get hit by a car scene is annoying as it tries to be funny by stating the obvious. Hence, the scene become not funny.

"Get Smart" is boring, with irritating and silly humour that fails to be funny. I am thoroughly disappointed by it.