GET SMART is pretty much what you'd expect from a big-budget Hollywood adaptation of the old t.v. series. There's a thin plot that unravels with increasing quickness as the end credits approach, including a plot twist that will be immediately obvious to anybody who realizes that they're watching a movie. There are lots of nods and winks to the old series - the shoe phone, the catchphrase, the cameos from old supporting characters and surviving actors from the original. There are big action sequences and comfortable jokes as the movie tries to be both an action and a comedy (and never really winds up connecting with either).
Where SMART separates itself from the STARSKIES and the HUTCHES is in the casting. Steve Carell's Maxwell Smart is a genuinely likable and charismatic character, one who effortlessly fills the movie screen. He's also re-conceived as an analyst with dreams of being an agent, and is therefore a kinder, more competent and less arrogant Maxwell Smart. And one for whom you can't help but root. Add great turns from the supporting cast (including a gorgeous Anne Hathaway segueing into a decidedly non-feminist Barbara Feldon impression by movie's end) and a couple surprisingly effective action sequences...
...and you have a pretty good time at the movies. Good enough that I wouldn't mind a return engagement with Agent 86. As long as Steve Carell is back in the shoe phone.
Where SMART separates itself from the STARSKIES and the HUTCHES is in the casting. Steve Carell's Maxwell Smart is a genuinely likable and charismatic character, one who effortlessly fills the movie screen. He's also re-conceived as an analyst with dreams of being an agent, and is therefore a kinder, more competent and less arrogant Maxwell Smart. And one for whom you can't help but root. Add great turns from the supporting cast (including a gorgeous Anne Hathaway segueing into a decidedly non-feminist Barbara Feldon impression by movie's end) and a couple surprisingly effective action sequences...
...and you have a pretty good time at the movies. Good enough that I wouldn't mind a return engagement with Agent 86. As long as Steve Carell is back in the shoe phone.