Get Smart

When this film adaptation of the popular 1960’s television show “Get Smart” was released, I was interested in seeing it. One reason was that as a child, I was a huge fan of the “Inspector Gadget” animated TV show from the 1980’s. As an adult, I found out that it was a spoof of “Get Smart” (Don Adams played both lead roles). Another reason I wanted to see the movie was that Mel Brooks created the original TV show and was contributing to this adaptation (I was introduced to Brooks’ work through “Robin Hood: Men in Tights”). The movie turned out to be better than I thought it would be. I love films that are satires but still include the characteristics of the genres they are making fun of. “Get Smart” does not sacrifice story for humor as some satires do. There is some drama and action that make the movie quite entertaining.

This movie is funny for me because of the script and its delivery by the actors in the film. The film has some scenes at the start to flesh out the underdog story of Maxwell Smart and that is important to the appeal of the movie. The movie has too many funny moments to mention all of them. I will mention a few moments like “Aim for the haystack. You missed it.” That particular line is not funny by itself but thanks to Steve Carell’s performance, the timing, the lack of editing and the distance of the camera from the characters, it is very funny. I also liked the “time to punch Max in the face” rant. Max’s dance in Russia with the woman was amazing. It is very funny also but it serves as a story point at the same time. Coupled with the discoveries Max makes in the restaurant, 99 now sees Max differently. She is impressed with him. Sometimes I like to think of comic possibilities that could have been included in a film. For example with this film after Max mentions Chuck Norris, I would have loved to have seen Chuck Norris walking outside the bakery with a BB gun that he just bought at a souvenir shop for irony sake. I know I will be judged a lot for saying this but “The Office” is not all that funny to me. In my defense, it is not because of Steve Carell. I found his voice acting funny in “Over The Hedge” and “Horton Hears a Who”. One reason that I was surprised by how good the movie was is that I was expecting the Steve Carell from “The Office”. In the end, he is a good replacement for Don Adams. Anne Hathaway was really good and her comic acting was funny also. She provides most of the drama that makes the movie more appealing than if the film was without drama. Thanks to the personas of Hathaway and Carell, you don’t expect them to end up together. It appears more likely that they will end up as partners at work. The romantic story that comes about therefore adds drama to the comedy. Carell and Hathaway had great chemistry. Thanks to Dwayne Johnson’s persona, I could tell that he was an antagonist in the story. When he is revealed as a traitor, it gave the audience a sense of resolution because of the love triangle between Agents 23, 99 and Max. Agent 23 was now out of that triangle and now he had to be taken out of the story, which leads to the climactic action on the railroad tracks. Another very funny moment is during that sequence when we see a flashback to the kiss that 99 gave Dalip. We all know exactly what Max is going to do to 23 and it is a great use of creating humor in post-production. Terence Stamp was a great villain in this movie not just because of how well he acted but because he understood the genre of the film and performed accordingly. Other great performances come from Alan Arkin, James Caan, Masi Oka and Nate Torrence. It was such a wonderful surprise to see Bill Murray and Patrick Warburton in their cameo roles. All the performances of the cast members were perfect for the genre and they helped make the story funny & entertaining.

Because I grew up with “Inspector Gadget”, I have always been a fan of satirical spy/superhero genre but I love those movies even more if they still follow many of the rules of the original genre. “Get Smart” does that. It is a satire but it still has genuine action, mystery and romance. The cast was well chosen and they made a funny script very hilarious. I have heard hints about a sequel and with Carell, Hathaway & Arkin on board at this point, I am excited for the possibilities.

4 Stars