Get Smart 2-Disc Special Edition DVD (2008)
Funnyman Steve Carell Reprises Don Adams' Classic Role in Remake
Nov 17, 2008
As the mid 60's carried on, in the trail of the now famous and legendary James Bond series (after Ian Fleming's dashing British Secret Service hero), it wouldn't take long until Tinseltown followed suit, with products of their own. Sure enough, some shows attempted to simulate the genre as best they could in the limited TV format (see The Man From U.N.C.L.E.), while others just decided they'd have their fun with it.
One of those men was Mel Brooks, director/producer extraordinaire, whose works have haunted the minds of audiences since then (with Young Frankenstein, History of the World Part I, The Producers, and Spaceballs, to name a few), and who still manages to surprise, though with less regularity, even today.
One of said products of the 1960's, was Get Smart. A farce of the spy genre, it featured Don Adams as Agent 86/ Agent Maxwell Smart, from a global protective agency named CONTROL. Its purpose? To protect the world from the evil deeds of the nefarious group KAOS at every turn. Along with ever so diligent partner Agent 99 (Barbara Feldon), they fought to safeguard the planet from total global domination, yadi yadi yada...the story is well known to anyone who's seen a spy movie, featuring a megalomanical overactor, with delusions of cinematic grandeur.
Get Smart Synopsis
Now, the time is 2008, and Warner Brothers has released a new, modern cinematic version of this classic. In it, cynical comedian Steve Carell (known to audiences as Michael Scott in the U.S. version of The Office, or Evan Baxter in both Bruce Almighty and Evan Almighty) stars as Maxwell Smart, AKA Agent 86. Suffice to say, he is tasked with a mission of vital importance, that of putting a stop to KAOS' latest scheme to rule the world. Why? Well, it turns out KAOS has discovered CONTROL's H.Q., and eliminated most of the covert operatives (allegedly agents numbering from the tens to the seventies) in the process.
With the help of top ace operative Agent 86 (Anne Hathaway), Max must head to Moscow, where KAOS mastermind Siegfried (Terence Stamp, sorely underused here) has begun plans to provide unstable governments with nuclear weapons, thus reshaping the face of Earth's geopolitical landscape, spreading chaos (pun intended) worldwide.
Soon Max and Agent 99 work their way up the list to the guilty parties, and much deception occurs, both in the field, and back home as well. Laughter and action scenes ensue, and much silliness abounds.
Get Smart Plot Analysis
Does this film work as an entity of its own? Sure, if only to be taken at face value, in this case a silly slapstick comedy made in tribute to an even sillier (and much less structured) comedy show of yesteryear.
Is this film worthy of its source material? Not even close.
Mind you, Don Adams' irreverent behaviour in the original TV series was played for laughs, and had a laugh track to boot. This film's gags feel so tired, one wants to locate his or her secret gadget DVD remote, if only to speed past the slower parts, and get to the extra bonus features, in search of more stimulating fare.
Steve Carell manages to hold his own in providing some clever one liners, in his now trademark deadpan style. Aside from this, all other cast members, from Anne Hathaway to Terence Stamp, from Ken Davitian to even Oscar winner Alan Arkin, can't muster enough of a performance, to justify their presence on screen. You can't fault Hathaway, as her Agent 99 simply gets inserted into Maxwell Smart's scene, if only to act as this limited act's straight man (or woman). Might as well have Sean Penn try to upstage Robin Williams in an improv contest.
Even Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who's managed to draw some laughs in a few past projects (not to mention his...er....dramatic performance in professional sports wrestling entertainment), barely deserves a mention in this weak attempt at cashing in on the boob tube's past glory of old.
Audiences are better to run and get The Complete Original Series, recently released on DVD. Better to go with the original material, sure enough. Who knew?
Get Smart DVD Bonus Features
Little can be said of the bonus features. The director gets interview time, explaining his strategy towards greatness (alas), and we also get to see some behind the scenes magic, including stunts, on-location filming, and the making of the quasi-memorable dance contest. It is recommended you skip the sillier options, such as watching Steve Carell fake his way through an alleged language training course in foreign languages, which is not only unfunny, but could potentially be offensive, to anyone who speaks French, Spanish, Italian, or Russian.
