Get Smart

It might help to have seen the TV show at some point in your life, but it’s not a prerequisite.

Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart – the best, but bumbling, analyst for a secret government agency, CONTROL, dedicated to fighting an evil anarchist counter agency, KAOS (they used to be Commies, but that team lost the Cold War, so I guess they decided to go guerilla). While Max is brilliant at what he does, he dreams of taking on the sexier, more high profile role of agent, where he can participate in field work, be a star and find the excitement he seeks. Now, it looks like Max will be getting his chance.

KAOS has infiltrated CONTROL, started eliminating agents one-by-one, and plans a horrible attack while CONTROL is trying to regroup, so The Chief (Alan Arkin) has promoted Max to Agent 86, and matched him with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to make sure the good guys (and good ladies) win.

Can Max and Agent 99 stop KAOS’s dastardly plot?

Get Smart was one of my favorite TV programs when I was growing up, so I was ecstatic to see the movie is just as funny (most of the time), even if you never saw Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and the rest of the crew in action. Yes, the Cone of Silence still doesn’t work. No, Max doesn’t use a shoe phone anymore (but we do see what has happened to the legendary iPhone of its day). And, yes, Get Smart the movie is just as silly as Get Smart the TV show and just as funny as the original (most of the time), with a few updates to make it more modern.

The cast is one of the strongest teams in movies. Everyone is great with the consistent deadpan delivery, but each actor also adds something special. Hathaway is vivacious, confident and sexy in a way that won’t embarrass her mother if she takes her to the premiere, but still made my jaw drop. Dwayne Johnson (who will always be The Rock, in a good way) as Agent 23 is the tough guy with a heart of gold who stands up for Max when others try to bully him, and excels at making us laugh with his machismo and suaveness. Then, Carell has the best facial expressions in movies today.

Get Smart is a comedy that relies on being silly, showcasing lots of physical humor and constant misinterpretations of dialogue and intentions, but it’s silly without being stupid (unlike The Love Guru which is stupid instead of silly).

We have to suffer through too many slow periods towards the end, and even director Peter Segal can’t resist a couple instances of gross out humor, which aren’t needed, so it’s not a perfect movie, but your best choice this week.

Get Smart is rated PG-13 for some rude humor, action violence and language.