Sunday, June 22, 2008
A+E, In this Issue..., Movies, Reviews

Would you believe …?

Get Smart’ update not a mission impossible

Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell in “Get Smart”
Photos/Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

“GET SMART”
Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway
Directed by Peter Segal
Rated PG-13
Wide release

By Steve Warren

The ’60s sitcom “Get Smart” did a better job of spoofing the era’s spy movies than the “Austin Powers” movies did with three decades of hindsight. Now “Get Smart” comes to the big screen amid the usual fears that the concept is past its prime time.

The same argument could have been made about the TV series, which had its roots in burlesque comedy but was tweaked just enough by creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry to make it timeless.

Expanding and updating “Get Smart” allows for better production values, including excellent stunt work in the action sequences; but it also provides time for character and plot development, a little of which goes a long way in the midst of such deliciously lowbrow humor.

The film moves “Get Smart” into the 21st century but, like the recent reinvention of “Casino Royale,” starts the story from scratch. Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is a mere analyst for the spy agency CONTROL, which was supposedly disbanded at the end of the Cold War so its existence could be a secret again. Having shed half his weight, Smart wants to be an agent in the fight against KAOS (the bad guys), but the Chief (Alan Arkin) doesn’t want to lose him as an analyst.

Then KAOS kills or compromises all of CONTROL’s agents, and there’s no one left to go undercover and pursue whoever’s stealing nuclear materials—except Max, who officially becomes Agent 86, and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who’s recently undergone a total makeover so that her new face is unknown to the enemy.

In keeping with changing times, Agent 99 is more independent than women were in the mid-’60s. The character has always been smarter than Smart, but the new version sheds the deference of the old one and constantly rubs Smart’s nose in his inferiority. (No wonder he falls in love with her.)

Among the supporting cast, Dwayne Johnson (the action star formerly known as The Rock) displays a deft comic touch as Agent 23, who has Max’s back against Larabee (David Koechner) and Agent 91 (Terry Crews), who laugh at his shortcomings. Nate Torrence and Masi Oka (“Heroes”) also star as nerdy lab guys on Smart’s side. On the KAOS side, Terence Stamp (“The Limey”) portrays leader Siegfried, with Ken Davitian (of “Borat” fame) as his sidekick, Shtarker. Dalip Singh is a credible hulk who may switch sides in response to Max’s gentleness; this new Smart is prone to saying things like, “Our enemies are human beings, too. … It’s what they do, not who they are.”

It’s hard to imagine Don Adams, star of the original series, showing such sensitivity; he was too busy making an arrogant fool of himself, spouting catchphrases like “Sorry about that, Chief,” “Missed it by that much,” “the old [fill in the blank] trick” and “Would you believe …?” They’re all here, some of them twice.

There are homages, intentional or not, to other movies. In place of James Bond gadgetry, there’s an enhanced Swiss Army Knife. One sequence is a steal from “Entrapment,” as Max and 99 make their way through a room laced with deadly laser beams. Perhaps best of all is a confrontation that cries out to be interrupted by Peter Sellers: “Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here. This is the War Room!”

There are also cameos that should be surprises, but since “Iron Man” and “The Incredible Hulk,” surprise cameos are official marketing tools. Perhaps they’ll start putting spoiler alerts on commercials.

The screenplay, by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, includes a bit of political humor, most of it nonpartisan, although James Caan’s President may remind you of someone. Then there’s the Chief’s admonition: “We don’t jam staplers into people’s heads. That’s CIA crap!”

Director Peter Segal, whose past work has ranged from “50 First Dates,” “My Fellow Americans” and “The Naked Gun 33 1/3” to “Tommy Boy,” “Anger Management” and some Tom Arnold TV specials, has a difficult task, striving to please audiences for contemporary action comedies without completely losing the spirit of the original series. Silliness works best, but unrelieved silliness wouldn’t work at all, and Segal generally strikes a good balance. As the old “big-screen adaptation of an old TV series” trick goes, “Get Smart” doesn’t miss by that much. 3 STARS