Directed by: Peter Segal
Premise: An adaptation of the 1960s television
show. Well meaning but awkward CONTROL agent Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) pairs
with the highly skilled but cynical Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to prevent a
terrorist organization from launching a nuclear attack on the United States.
What Works: Get Smart is a very good
adaptation, taking the premise and reinterpreting it for a contemporary
audience. The film faces a significant problem in that there have been a lot of
espionage spoofs featuring bumbling spies like Top
Secret! Austin
Powers, Undercover
Brother, and Spy
Hard. Get Smart sidesteps this predicament by giving Maxwell
Smart a little more credit, making him more intelligent and more coordinated
than he was in the television series. The film also plays the threat
intelligently, especially in the final act, going for action sequences right out
of a Jerry Bruckheimer film and then combining it with slapstick humor where
appropriate. This makes the film less of a spoof and catapults it into a league
with films like Ghostbusters or The Devil
Wears Prada, comedies with a credible dramatic backbone. The casting is
great; the actors include genuine thespians who are able to emote and do comedy
and this brings a lot of credibility to the story. Steve Carell’s likeable but
awkward sensibility fits perfectly with the new conception of Maxwell Smart and
Anne Hathaway is terrific as Agent 99, making her alternately tough but also
vulnerable. Together, Carell and Hathaway make a great team both as buddies in
action and as a comedic odd couple. Other cast members include Alan Arkin as The
Chief, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Agent 23, and Terrance Stamp as
Siegfried, the leader of terrorist organization KAOS. Arkin and Johnson gets
some great lines and contribute to the comedy but one of the keys to the film is
Stamp, who plays the role straight as though he were the villain of a James Bond
film. This sells the seriousness of the threat amid all of the comedy and
maintains the credibility of the film.
What Doesn’t: Viewers should be aware that this
is a PG-13 film and in parts it abandons some of the family friendly tone of the
television series. Get Smart is not raunchy like a Judd Apatow film and
this slightly edgier material does help the film, but fans of the original
series might find a few bits of dialogue jarring.
Bottom Line: Get Smart is a terrific piece of entertainment. It ought to satisfy fans of the television series but it will also reach new audiences as well. The film isn’t going to win anyone an Oscar but it's all about having fun and for that purpose it’s a great picture.