Dumb 'Smart' lacks TV show's zany edge
This isn't your mom and dad's "Get Smart."
It's barely "Smart" at all.
Sure, the characters and organizations retain the same names as those in the 1965 TV series that spoofed the ultra-hot James Bond spy movies of the era.
Beyond that, Peter Segal's broad and generic "Get Smart" boasts precious little of producer Mel Brooks' signature verbal swordplay and gag-stuffed zaniness that made the TV show such an endearing hit.
Don Adams, a former U.S. Marine, played Smart as a stocky American version of France's Inspector Clouseau, a bumbling nincompoop who succeeded despite his overwhelming insensitivity and incompetence.
More Coverage Video Gire reviews 'Get Smart'
Adams' blithely dopey and one-dimensional take on Agent 86, an obvious inspiration for Leslie Nielsen's Lt. Frank Drebin from the "Police Squad" and "Naked Gun" comedies, has been discarded here to make room for Steve Carell's amusing brand of undercranked comic characterization.
Carell, the star of the Dilbert-esque TV series "The Office" and the hit movie "The 40 Year Old Virgin," turns Maxwell Smart into a highly competent, caring CONTROL office analyst who yearns to become a field operative like the cool and assured Agent 23 (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson). You know he's cool because he moves in sexy slow motion when you first see him.
A "Three Days of the Condor"-like attack hits CONTROL headquarters and wipes out most of the agents. So, the Chief (Oscar-winner Alan Arkin) reluctantly promotes Smart to agent status. The catch: He must be partnered with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who has recently undergone massive plastic surgery to protect her undercover status.
Boomers will remember that vampy Barbara Feldon played TV's Agent 99 as Smart's deferring sidekick.
No more. Hathaway's highly experienced 99 would just as soon kick her partner in the side than put up with his constant posturing and presumption of equality with her in the field.
The plot of "Get Smart" almost ranks with the worst of the James Bond films. KAOS, the counter organization to CONTROL, has given nuclear weapons to many hostile countries. The head of KAOS, Siegfried, is played by Terence Stamp, presumably resurrecting his evil General Zod character from "Superman II," although he's on screen for such a brief period of time, who knows?
Siegfried intends to sell the bomb activation codes, turning terrorism into a capitalistic enterprise. Will 86 and 99 be able to deep-six KAOS' plot?
Obviously, a comedy designed for the Cold War era of the 1960s won't work in 2008, so the original "Get Smart" - developed by Brooks and satirist Buck Henry - had to evolve.
Nonetheless, Peter Segal's silver-screen reboot of the TV series lacks so much Smartness that boomers will hardly recognize the brand. (How did Edward Platt's rock-solid Chief become a short-tempered attack dog?)
Post-boomer audiences unfazed by nostalgia will see an occasionally funny moment built into a standard-issue Hollywood action comedy with an expectedly ridiculous finale. This one wants us to believe Smart dies in a fiery car/train collision.
Right. Would you believe injured in a game of Twister? How about maimed by a dagger gaze?
These classic jokes from the series don't translate well, especially without Adams' clipped, cartoony delivery, perfect for "Tennessee Tuxedo."
Credit Carell for giving Agent 86 a whole personality. But when it comes to capturing the essence of Maxwell Smart, he missed it by thaaaaaaat much.
"Get Smart"
Rating: 2 stars
Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin
Directed by: Peter Segal
Other: A Warner Bros. release. Rated PG-13 (violence, language, crude humor). 110 minutes.