Carell
is Smart - and he's loving it!
You’d
think that after the mixed success of films like Starsky &
Hutch and Charlie’s Angels (at least the second
one), Hollywood producers would think twice before barrelling
ahead with another movie based on a TV series. In the case of
Get Smart however, they seem to have heeded the advice
given by the title and created a pretty smart action-comedy. Just
one point to note - it's certainly not a replica of the TV series.
I have to say I wasn’t completely won over
by this film because I grew up with the TV series (not to mention
innumerable re-runs over the years since). So for me, there’s
only one Maxwell Smart, and that’s Don Adams. But this film
actually stands on its own two feet, so that direct comparisons
with the series are perhaps problematic but nonetheless inevitable.
The filmmakers have made several modifications to
the core ideas behind the TV show. A key one is to update the
scenario and take it out of its original Cold War setting (something
made clear in the opening scenes). This updating is one of the
more contentious elements of the film, as it drains the spy premise
of much of its punch. It also results in many of the dynamics
between the characters being altered, sometimes quite radically.
The characters themselves have also had a bit of
a face-lift. Max, as played by Steve Carell, is less bumbling
and less incompetent than Don Adams’ character was; while
Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) is far more assertive than the Barbara
Feldon version. This unfortunately robs the film of one of the
key joys of the TV series – knowing that whatever Max did,
99 was always smarter and more skilful despite her never advertising
the fact.
In the film, Max is an analyst for CONTROL, preparing
exhaustive reports on surveillance "chatter" for the
organization while yearning to be a field agent. But an attack
on CONTROL headquarters changes all that. It soon becomes clear
that KAOS is behind the, well, chaos. With all the organization’s
field agents compromised, Max is promoted by the Chief (Alan Arkin)
and sent to Russia with 99 to try to track down the secretive
Siegfried (Terence Stamp) and discover KAOS’s evil plans.
Director
Peter Segal, who recently helmed the Adam Sandler films 50
First Dates and The Longest Yard, does a competent
job of directing; neatly blending the comedy with plenty of action.
Towards the end, the action does tend to overwhelm everything
else; but until then, the film offers a fun ride.
In a way, it’s pretty much the flip side of
“serious” spy films a la the Mission Impossible
or Bond franchises. The action zips around the globe, but the
situations are often set up for humour rather than thrills. Segal
keeps the faith with several sequences lifted from the TV series
(not to mention other movies).
Steve Carell makes the character of Max his own.
He wisely doesn’t try to mimic Don Adams, and the film is
better for it. He manages to wring the most laughs he can from
the character even if, as noted earlier, his opportunities are
arguably more limited. Anne Hathaway seems to be channelling Barbara
Feldon at times, although she’s a bit brassier and more
combative. I also have to question her chemistry with Carell,
particularly when their love interest predictably arises. Dwayne
Johnson (yes, the Rock) has fun as Agent 23, although his opportunities
are more limited. I was however a bit disappointed with Terence
Stamp as Siegfried. I found him just too smooth and underplayed
to be an enjoyable super-villain.
Hard-core fans of the TV series might be dismayed
at times with this big-screen version of Get Smart, but
the film deserves to be judged on its own merits. Those merits
revolve mainly around Carell and his inimitable comic timing.
Segal and his team have created an enjoyable, if fairly disposable,
action-comedy romp that will undoubtedly find a wide audience.
It might not be the best thing either Carell or Hathaway have
ever done, but it’s an amusing diversion.
David Edwards
