Rated: PG-13
Runtime: 1 hr 50 mins
Cast:
- Steve Carell
- Anne Hathaway
- Dwayne Johnson
- Alan Arkin
- Terence Stamp
- Ken Davitian
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Review - "Get Smart"
Reviewer: Charise Payne
Rating:
In a summer full of remakes, both in TV and film, it was nice to see that Get Smart does the original series justice. One of the things I liked most about the film was how it stayed true to the 1960s television series but, at the same time, made it current and modern. Director Peter Segal (50 First Dates, Tommy Boy and The Longest Yard) pulled this remake off by keeping the structure of the television series, but making it fresh with his chosen actors, locale, and script writers.
One of the best things about the film is that if you never saw the original television show, you didn't feel lost or left behind. Steve Carell captured the character of Maxwell Smart so impeccably that not once did I feel this was a remake. I honestly never once thought about the television series the whole time I was in the theater.
The film begins with Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), a lovable yet clumsy analyst, finding out that he has finally passed his test to be a secret agent. But his hopes are crushed when he finds out that because he is such a good analysis, they aren't going to promote him. By "they", I mean the secret covert special ops team called Control. Smart has dreamed about becoming an agent his entire adult life, and now his hopes have been dashed.
Smart settles back into his duties: providing intel, reports, and advice for the special agents. But he is restless and needs a distraction, so he goes for a stroll to get some fresh air. While he is gone, Control is broken into, and all of its secrets and agents have been compromised. Agents are being killed in the field, and they have no way to stop it. The Chief (Alan Arkin) tells Smart he is being promoted because only he and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who recently went through a radical face transformation, are still unknown. Agent 99 doesn't want to take Smart on because he is green, and she doesn't want to have to baby-sit him.
Nevertheless, they are sent on their first mission. Someone has stolen tons of radioactive bombs, and they need to find out who has them, why and what they are going to do with them, and if they can get them back, even better. So off they go to play with the big bad Russians, because, you know, in all movies, it's either the Russians or the Chinese who have stolen the nukes. Why can't it ever be the Spaniards or the Dutch?)
And this is the premise of the story: Agent 99 and Smart have to work together to get the job done. She discovers that he is silly and a big klutz at times, but somehow, he always gets the job done, which earns her respect. And he discovers he is more of a man than he thought, and that he is more then just an analyst — he is Agent 86.
Get Smart is a fun family film that will make you laugh and have a good time. It's not an award-winning film, but when are summer blockbusters ever up for best drama at the Oscars? Get Smart is filled with quirky characters, butt-kicking babes, and jokes that will make you chuckle.
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