"Get Smart" Review - Written by TonyD

“Get Smart”
2008
*** out of ****
Director: Peter Segel
Cast: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson


I’ve watched enough cop comedies to know that when you are referencing pop culture, it just doesn’t work. Even when you are spoofing a certain movie, the most likely results are that it will fail terribly. The only exceptions that I can think of are “Hot Fuzz” and “The Naked Gun” movies. I came out of “Get Smart” and saying that I’m glad that they didn’t fuck a lot of the film up. It could have been fucked up. Let’s face it – this is the same guy that made “The Nutty Professor 2” and “Anger Management,” and I’m sure none of you forgot about the terrorist attack code name “The Longest Yard.”

Surprisingly, the only film that I can really recommend on director Peter Segel’s resume is… “The Naked Gun 33 1/3.” Wow. This comes as no surprise.

But I can now also recommend his brand new flick “Get Smart.” Starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway as Agent 86 and Agent 99, the film is a rehash of the old television show that was created by the god of comedy Mel Brooks. Unlike most TV-to-film adaptations, “Get Smart” works in many ways. Instead of creating a homage to the audience who grew up with the show, Peter Segel creates a new fanbase for people who weren’t around to witness the show’s success.

I’ll admit that before walking into “Get Smart” that I had no idea what the TV show was like or what I will be getting from the flick, but what I got was a few good laughs and a lot of fun. If “Tropic Thunder” and “Pineapple Express” don’t deliver, this may just be the comedy to beat this summer. Its only competition is “Meet Dave,” and you know how hard that is to beat correct?

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is an analyst for CONTROL, a spy agency that monitors the works of a terrorist group called KAOS. Though they thought that KAOS was once gone, they rebounded by stealing the names of all of the CONTROL agents and killing every last one of them. Max always wanted to be an agent, and when the opportunity comes to be an agent, he takes it and expects to work with his hero Agent 23, (Dwayne Johnson) only to be astonished that he is working with some chick that goes by the code name Agent 99 who recently gotten plastic surgery done on her face. The Chief (Alan Arkin) sends Smart and Agent 99 to Russia where they try and figure out how KAOS’s leader Siegfried (Terence Stamp) is trying to take over the world.

“Get Smart” is packed with many laughs. I found myself laughing hardest at the scenes where it was Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway together. It might just be me but it seems like whoever works with Steve Carell has excellent chemistry with him. After the movie ended I found myself comparing Carell and Hathaway to Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in “Iron Man.” In both instances, both duos don’t act awkward when the usual cliché says that you should be acting awkward. Or maybe it is just their excellent chemistry together. Whatever it is, Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway are fabulous together.

The rest of the cast is fantastic. I have a feeling that we will be seeing a lot more of Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock, in film. I don’t think that he is the best actor ever, but he is definitely shaping up into being one. He was flawless in “Southland Tales,” and gives off a hilarious performance here, even while keeping a straight face. Some guy upstairs dropped the almighty Alan Arkin outside the casting office. Thank god. He owns every little scene that he is in. He has an Oscar for a reason, you know, and I seem to be the only guy who rooted for him.

The biggest problem I had with the film was that the end result seemed forced. Segel obviously wanted to bring these characters all together too fast for the climax and since both sides are at separate ends of the Earth, he has to get them all together to unite at one building. Of course, not even the one side lives anywhere near Los Angeles where the climax takes place and miraculously, they all get there in the matter of five minutes. Even Steve Carell, who seems to be walking while talking on his shoe phone.

I can’t say for sure whether or not this will live up to the expectations of the people who grew up watching the show, but the way that I look at it is that if you loved the TV show, loved “The Naked Gun” movies, and loved that “Starsky and Hutch” film that came out back in 2004, then you will really like “Get Smart.” The humor is never the least bit dull and nowhere close to being raunchy (okay, maybe ONE is). Aside from “Wall-E” and “Kung Fu Panda,” this just might be one of the best movies to take your children to in the summer.

P.S. I have not been able to catch the spin-off “Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control,” and from what I heard it isn’t all that great, but it takes place at the same time as this one was going on. Possibly this spinoff could answer the problem that I had with the film?