Get Smart DVD Review

"Get Smart" reviews

DVD

Get Smart

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2009-02-24 16:52:59

Rating

3/5

Provider

DVD Review

On paper Get Smart has all the credentials to succeed - an origin story plucked from the comedic well-spring that is Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960's serial. With a likable leading man in Steve Carell, an impossibly alluring Anne Hathaway and even a supporting Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, proving yet again that he does indeed have the comedy chops for this kind of thing, "Get Smart" should make the grade. Right?

Well, Peter Segal's spy caper saddles an odd grey area between spoof and earnest Saturday Matinee thrills. Maybe the point was to create an action film that delivered some bang for your buck as well as tickling the funny-bone? "Get Smart" never really achieves either aim, at least not consistently. Steve Carell's Maxwell Smart, an analytical jobs-worth of the highest order, comes across as the winning sidekick at first, the wannabe who so desperately wants to pass the exams into fully-fledged Agent territory for CONTROL (the secret government agency getting tough on Terror). When the evil forces of KAOS, led by the rent-a-Zod Terence Stamp, ransacks the CONTROL offices, exposing countless undercover agents in the process, including star quarterback Agent 23 (Johnson), Smart is called upon by the chief ("Little Miss Sunshine's" Alan Arkin) to step up and save the day. Paired with Hathaway's mysterious Agent 99, Smart is sent out into the field to prevent a nuclear disaster.

Of course you never doubt Smart for a second and that's because "Get Smart" plays its 'winning hand' a little too sloppily. Carell delivers a great Nice Guy turn and has some fun with the gadget spoofery on offer (an airplane lavatory and a mini-harpoon gun make for a hilarious combo). But despite these slapstick moments, Carell's Smart is portrayed as a capable goof. He may raise the odd chuckle through sheer eccentricity but in the next scene he'll be executing Russian goons with a ruthless efficiency. Very quickly the film lurches from super agent tomfoolery (hit) to cereal box action (miss). Hathaway meanwhile suffers from an underwritten character with a slight alter-ego back-story that gets caught up in the wash. Her chemistry with Carell makes for some uplifting moments but it's surely her "Entrapment"-esque Security Beam Shuffle that will linger long in the memory. The supporting players have very little to do other than buoy the film with some slapstick of their own. Arkin tries his best and Johnson is dealt the superfluous character shtick, which can only ever mean one thing (something the audience hits upon way before what was naturally intended).

"Get Smart" never really mines the 'Bond With Laughs' potential that the source material affords. Perhaps Segal dwelt a little too long over Smart's induction into Agent-hood but even then things get bogged down in the by-the-numbers-set-pieces. Carell's performance does manage to keep the film on track but such a feat is more to do with his broader appeal than the film's paper-thin material. A distracting bit of fun...but a missed opportunity nonetheless.

DVD Extras: TBC

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