Get Smart
As a youngin’, I was exposed to many classic TV shows beyond the ones popular universally. Of these included “Get Smart,” the sly government agency comedy spoof created by Buck Henry and the incomperable Mel Brooks. Watching the show, it’s hard to imagine anyone capable of capturing the memorable blend of dry delivery and clueless luck the late Don Adams had as Maxwell Smart, one of the best (if not the brightest) CONTROL has in their ongoing covert battle with the criminal syndicate KAOS.
Of course, at the time, it was impossible to imagine a personality like Steve Carell, who can go from earnest and engaging to fast-paced and almost schizophrenic, as has been evidenced in efforts like “The 40 Year-Old Virgin,” “Over the Hedge,” “Little Miss Sunshine,” and TV’s “The Daily Show.” Oddly enough, it’s his straight-faced correspondent on “The Daily Show” that proves to be his perfect audition for the role of Maxwell Smart. He doesn’t disappoint, either- he’s consistently funny and endearingly clueless as Agent 86, CONTROL’s best analyst who gets improbably promoted to a field agent by The Chief (Alan Arkin, an inspired choice for the role originated by Edward Platt on the TV show) when agents start getting picked off by KAOS. As his partner, Max is handed off the Agent 99 (the sexy Anne Hathaway, with the smarts and personality to fill in for Barbara Feldon in the role), not too happy to be put with a rookie. Still, she finds working with Max a lot better than she might were she paired with hot-shot hero Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson, playing the role with comic charm and ego), even when Max gets himself in over his head with Siegfried (the delightfully straight-faced Terence Stamp) and his henchmen.
What director Peter Segal and writers Tom J. Astle &
Matt Ember do right is, first and foremost, bring in Brooks and Henry as consultants, bouncing ideas off of them instead of just going with their own inspirations. Smart move; the result is a big-screen action comedy that not only captures the spirit of the TV show but also sticks it to spy franchises like Bond (the show’s initial target) and Bourne. That Segal can deliver both the comic and action bangs so effectively- even if the film feels a tad drawn out (always a problem with live-action films of sitcoms) for its’ own good- is good news for those who wondered whether the director of “Nutty Professor II: The Klumps,” “The Longest Yard,” and “Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult” could have it in him (thankfully, he also directed “50 First Dates”- one of Sandler’s best- and “My Fellow Americans,” an underrated buddy comedy). Then again, it’d be hard to miss with a cast like this: Carell and Arkin and comic naturals, Johnson is proving his worth as an actor since disowning “The Rock” moniker, and Hathaway is an actress with maturity and talent beyond her years. These four and the cast around them (special props to Bill Murray in a sad cameo as Agent 13 and Patrick Warburton as Hymie) want to honor the work of Brooks and Henry by playing right to its’ strengths. It’s the old honor-your-mentors-instead-of-trashing-their-legacy-with-your-own-ideas trick. Welcome back Max.
