Get Smart

(2008, 110 min) Given the history of TV-to-Movies adaptations, it would entirely reasonable for discerning viewers to dismiss this big screen remake of Mel Brooks' and Buck Henry's classic spy spoof as yet another unpalatable slice of Hollywood junk heaped onto a pile of unoriginal garbage. It would be reasonable, that is, until one remembers that Steve Carell is currently the most likable comedic actor working. His charm alone lifts Get Smart far above most of its inferior counterparts. Carell's Maxwell Smart is slightly less arrogant and slightly more self-aware than Don Adams' was, but this, if anything, simply establishes the film as its own entity and not a cheap carbon copy knockoff. Carell begins as an analyst for CONTROL who'd recently lost weight and desperately wants to be promoted to agent, a promotion that no one who isn't named Maxwell Smart thinks he is qualified for. However, KAOS strikes and strikes hard and soon enough Max is tagging along with Agent 99 (a competent Anne Hathaway) on a mission to locate the nuclear devices that the villains have stashed in Russia.

The main strength of the film (outside of Carell's unparalleled likability) is its pacing. It never gets bogged down too much in character development or over-the-top action sequences and keeps things moving at a very sharp (but never overly frenetic) clip. Adding to the fun are the consistently funny jokes. None stick out as moments of sheer, side-splitting hilarity, but very few fall flat and most provoke laugh-out-loud (but not too loud) reactions. Additionally, the action sequences, while never overdone, all entertain and few exceed the normal standards of believability expected from a Hollywood action movie. Adding supporting charm to the mix are Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who has nearly perfected affable, acutely masculine self-mockery, and Alan Arkin who plays the put-upon chief to perfection. Even Bill Murray has an amusing cameo as the always-hiding Agent 13 that will cheer up anyone longing for the days when Murray condescended to do broad comedies.

One notable drawback is the relative lack of romantic chemistry between Carell and Hathaway. They can bicker and banter perfectly adequately, but the deeper connection between them is seldom clear. Another drawback comes when the film inexplicably resorts to using flashbacks to demonstrate what the characters are thinking. This classic cheap trick has almost never worked in any film and this one is no exception. These minor flaws don't, however, cripple what proves to be an immensely likable film that instantly leaps to near the top of Hollywood's TV recycling bin.

– Daniel Reed

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