After reflecting on the recent slew of TV to film adaptations, I had my doubts about "Get Smart"; Bewitched was pretty awful and I couldn't make it through 10 minutes of "The Dukes of Hazzard". Because of this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that "Get Smart", while not great, is at least an enjoyable way to spend a few hours in the movie theater. While it lacks truly gutbusting moments of comedy, something about the whole feel of the movie managed to keep a small grin on my face. Even when the jokes fall flat, I was still enjoying everything. When terrorist group KAOS learns the location of US spynetwork CONTROL's field agents, the entire group is compromised save for two: Maxwell Smart (Steve Carrell) and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Part of what makes the proceedings so much fun is the great casting of Carrell and Hathaway, and their opposites-attract chemistry. Nice supporting turns are found in Alan Arkin as the CONTROL chief, Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23, and Masi Oka as a computer geek/inventor at CONTROL. Though it's mostly predictable, there's still fun to be had in this breezy summer action comedy. Though it's never quite "Smart" enough to be considered memorable, it's certainly far from dumb.
Grade: B-
Nominations: Best Actress - Anne Hathaway(#5)
Number of 2008 Films Seen: 14
1 comment:
Get Smart looks okay overall, though Steve Carell seems to be veering more and more toward slapstick-style humor
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