|
Movie Review - Get Smart (2008)
|
|
|
|
|
(What this rating means)
|
|
| |
|
| Director: |
Peter Segal |
| Starring: |
Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, The Rock, Alan Arkin, and Terence Stamp |
| Rated: |
PG-13 (for some rude humor, action violence and language) |
| Length: |
110 minutes |
| Genre: |
Action/Comedy |
| Tagline: |
Saving The World. And Loving It. |
| Studio: |
Warner Bros. |
| Website: |
Get Smart |
| Release: |
June 20, 2008 |
|
PLOT
|
When the headquarters of secret U.S. spy agency CONTROL is attacked and the identities of its agents compromised, the Chief (Arkin) has no choice but to promote his
ever-eager analyst Maxwell Smart (Carell), who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside his idol - stalwart superstar Agent 23 (The Rock). Smart is partnered
instead with the only other agent whose identity has not been compromised: the lovely-but-lethal veteran Agent 99 (Hathaway).
As Smart and 99 get closer to unraveling KAOS' master plan - and each other - they discover that key KAOS operative Siegfried (Stamp) and his sidekick, Shtarker
(Ken Davitian), are scheming to cash in with their network of terror. With no field experience and little time, Smart - armed with nothing but a few spy-tech gadgets and
his unbridled enthusiasm - must defeat KAOS if he is to save the day. A fairly routine and generic spy spoof ensues.
|
|
JOHNNY'S TAKE
|
"Not nearly as funny as I had hoped," was my less-than-enthusiastic response when Mr. Shade asked for my thoughts regarding the 110 minutes of rampant stupidity we
had just endured. Probably not the reaction the filmmakers were shootin' for.
What's it say that there are more laughs in a 22-minute episode of The Office than in Get Smart's entire runtime? Is that acceptable? Why are TV
writers capable of finding a way to make me laugh consistently, week after week, but screenwriters so often struggle to achieve more than a few intermittent laughs
in a single screenplay? Isn't it only fair that we, paying moviegoers that we are (well, that you are), demand more?
A by-the-numbers spy spoof of formulaic proportions, Get Smart hits the ground running ... in neutral, and unfortunately the gears never really shift. Is it
a silly, light-hearted comedy that offers a few laughs? Sure. But a film that deserves your $9+ to be seen on the big screen? Absolutely not. I find no compelling
reason to make this anything other than a rental. The jokes are predictable, the story is bland and tiresome (I started checking my watch at the 40-minute mark), and
the references to the original TV show seem rather forced and out of obligation.
The strangest thing about the film is that it's pretty much a kid's movie that's not appropriate for kids.
"What do you mean, Johnny?"
What I mean is that much of the humor seems directed squarely at pre-teens, yet the content is surprisingly adult-oriented. "S" bombs, middle fingers, Carell kissing
The Rock, a shot of Carell's butt, a scene where a guard mistakenly thinks Carell is "violating" another man - does this sound like something you want your children to
see? I didn't think so. So please explain to me why most of the jokes were written for children.
Everybody involved should've used the film's title as a rallying cry and dropped some of the stupidity and attempted something clever and witty.
|
|
ODDS & ENDS
|
- Jennifer Love Hewitt and Rachel McAdams were considered for the part of Agent 99.
- Either of the above would have been a better choice than Anne "What's Emotion?" Hathaway.
- Development on the movie began in 1998. At the time, Jim Carrey was attached to star.
- Whoa. The movie has been in development for 10 years and THIS is the best script they could come up with?
- Bill Murray has one of the biggest wasted cameos in recent movie history.
- If I read one more review stating the movie "missed it by that much" then I pledge to find the reviewer and punch him in the brain.
- "Our goal was to embrace the spirit of what Mel Brooks and Buck Henry created and bring it to a new generation. The movie pays homage to the touchstones of the
series; its irreverence, political satire and some of the catchphrases that are now part of our culture," says director Segal, "but with a fresh story, a 2008 point of
view and a style and energy all its own. The idea was to make a movie that offers as much to new viewers as longtime fans and, bottom line, to just make it funny as
h*ll so it doesn't matter if you know the history or not."
- Um, Mr. Segal? You do realize that Hell isn't really all that funny, right? I don't think there's much laughter amidst all the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Hmm, now that I think about it, if THAT is how funny you were trying to make it - as humorous as eternal punishment and torture - then CONGRATULATIONS! You at least
reached that low expectation. You read it right in the press notes, folks - the director's only goal was to make the movie as funny as someone burning in Hell for
eternity.
- By presenting Max as a newly minted agent whose abilities haven't yet been tested, Carell begins from a different place than series star Don Adams, of whom he
says, "Don was so distinctive, there was no realistic way to recreate his approach and his cadence, and I didn't want to do an impersonation. Instead, I wanted to tap
into the essence of the character and the show's rich template and, without taking anything away from that, create something new and fresh in a way that honors the
original but also stands on its own."
- Steve Carell was in Melinda and Melinda with Josh Brolin who was in Hollow Man with Kevin Bacon.
|
|
MAMA'S APPROVAL
|
I pointed these things out in the review, and I'll reiterate them here - "s" bombs, middle fingers, Carell kissing The Rock, a shot of Carell's butt, a scene where
a guard mistakenly thinks Carell is "violating" another man - does this sound like something you want your children to see?
|
|
TRAILER COMPARISON
|
The trailer gives you a fairly decent representation of what to expect.
|
|
THE GIST
|
Save it for a rental or catch it on TV one day.
|
|
