Jess Paine
BartoGet Smart: better than the other option
July 2nd 2008 02:44
Get Smart is a movie best appreciated by itself. Fans of the television series are just setting themselves up for disappointment if they expect more than the occasional nod towards the 1960’s classic. In isolation (a cone of silence, if you will)) it can be enjoyed as a light action adventure with above average comedy thanks to the casting of Steve Carell.
Carell is the master of making mundane statements hilarious with a mere twitch of his face or a vocal inflection. He plays Maxwell Smart (Don Adams’ former domain), a bumbling analyst desperately vying to become a field agent for CONTROL (the kind of bizarre, but far more credible agency the CIA would be if Alan Arkin truly did run it). When circumstance thrusts him toward the promotion he’s only dreamed of, he’s partnered with a deeply unimpressed Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). The Chief (Arkin) assigns them to track down a couple of nuclear weapons stolen by KAOS, before they get the chance to lob them in the direction of the US. Cue shenanigans, sight gags, dance-offs, betrayal and most memorably (for me) a sword fish.
It’s difficult to fault the effort put in by anyone. Carell is loveably eccentric, and his chemistry with Hathaway is surprising. Surprising because he could have fathered her. No neat little plot add-on takes away from the awkwardly evident age difference, but their banter remains engaging. I just wish they’d left it at that. Hathaway has a neat way with the comic touch herself, while Arkin is prone to completely stealing a scene or two. Dwayne Johnson (a name that cannot be uttered without acknowledging that it used to be The Rock) is amusing, and then confusing.
Ultimately this is a movie that got made because of the television show, but its biggest fault turns out to be that it’s lining itself up for comparison. This isn’t a witty, subversive satire, it’s a broad farce. Change the name and you would have had a perfectly serviceably film without the cult classic association. A lot of cop movies could have been a Law & Order adaptation if they just used the name. When the name is used it’s about branding, not creative necessity (it’s also probably about copyright…). Fans may hold a grudge because of this, but hopefully they’ll get over it and take the whole thing on its own merits.
If nothing else you've got to give them props for a sparkling Bush/Cheney riff. So many take the obvious, over the top route, getting carried away from comic potential into the kind of dumb territory that has been done to death. That is neatly avoided here.
Get Smart is fine fun. It’s not necessarily intelligent, but it is more than a little… smart.
Carell is the master of making mundane statements hilarious with a mere twitch of his face or a vocal inflection. He plays Maxwell Smart (Don Adams’ former domain), a bumbling analyst desperately vying to become a field agent for CONTROL (the kind of bizarre, but far more credible agency the CIA would be if Alan Arkin truly did run it). When circumstance thrusts him toward the promotion he’s only dreamed of, he’s partnered with a deeply unimpressed Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). The Chief (Arkin) assigns them to track down a couple of nuclear weapons stolen by KAOS, before they get the chance to lob them in the direction of the US. Cue shenanigans, sight gags, dance-offs, betrayal and most memorably (for me) a sword fish.
It’s difficult to fault the effort put in by anyone. Carell is loveably eccentric, and his chemistry with Hathaway is surprising. Surprising because he could have fathered her. No neat little plot add-on takes away from the awkwardly evident age difference, but their banter remains engaging. I just wish they’d left it at that. Hathaway has a neat way with the comic touch herself, while Arkin is prone to completely stealing a scene or two. Dwayne Johnson (a name that cannot be uttered without acknowledging that it used to be The Rock) is amusing, and then confusing.
Ultimately this is a movie that got made because of the television show, but its biggest fault turns out to be that it’s lining itself up for comparison. This isn’t a witty, subversive satire, it’s a broad farce. Change the name and you would have had a perfectly serviceably film without the cult classic association. A lot of cop movies could have been a Law & Order adaptation if they just used the name. When the name is used it’s about branding, not creative necessity (it’s also probably about copyright…). Fans may hold a grudge because of this, but hopefully they’ll get over it and take the whole thing on its own merits.
If nothing else you've got to give them props for a sparkling Bush/Cheney riff. So many take the obvious, over the top route, getting carried away from comic potential into the kind of dumb territory that has been done to death. That is neatly avoided here.
Get Smart is fine fun. It’s not necessarily intelligent, but it is more than a little… smart.
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