Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
6/22/08
Adapting a classic TV show
for the big screen requires filmmakers to navigate a minefield of seemingly
conflicting goals. Be true to what people loved about the original,
but update the story for a modern audience. Fill the movie with references
and in-jokes for the fans but tell a story you don't need to know the source
material to enjoy. Cast actors who'll personify the iconic roles,
but get full-bodied performances rather than mere imitations. I'm
hard-pressed to think of a movie that satisfies every item on this checklist
better than Peter Segal's Get Smart, which updates the greatest
of all spy spoofs with the loving attention of a maniacal Smart
fanboy but with a limber willingness to go outside of cannon that makes
it a grand action comedy all its' own. Steve Carell extends his recent
streak of brilliant comic performances as a Maxwell Smart who both embodies
the comic genius of the late Don Adams and stands on his own as another
of his patented late bloomer underdogs. Jam-packed with both laughs
and excitement, Get Smart is a summer entertainment machine that
will make fans of the classic series (like me) absolutely giddy.
Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell)
has labored for years as an analyst for the top-secret government intelligence
agency CONTROL. He's always dreamed of becoming a field agent but
was held back by his weight. But even after losing 150 pounds and
passing the test with flying colors, he's still denied promotion by The
Chief (Alan Arkin), because he's just too good at the job he has.
That all changes when CONTROL is attacked and their confidential files
stolen: now every agent's true identity is known by the villains
of KAOS. Only one agent can still function in the field, and that's
99 (Anne Hathaway), who's just had plastic surgery after her cover was
blown by a botched mission. While veteran agents like 23 (Dwayne
Johnson) are forced to labor in desk jobs, only one man is qualified to
be her partner: Max, who becomes Agent 86. The two travel to
Russia to try and thwart KAOS's latest scheme, involving nuclear extortion,
a plot against the US President (James Caan) and evil mastermind Siegfried
(Terrence Stamp).
Ironically, the spy logistics
of Get Smart's plot (difficult for me to summon even a few hours
after seeing it) take a back seat to fleshing out the characters who enact
them. Max's weight loss provides Carell with a perfect hook upon
which to hang his comic gifts: there's no actor today who's better
at generating empathy while acting like a total idiot. His self-esteem
challenges while trying to move past his overweight past mesh perfectly
with 99's trauma at having lost her face (“I used to look like my mother”)
because of a mistake in the field. This extra layer of characterization
and personal connection really makes the agents work as movie characters,
allowing the film Carte Blanche to then cut loose with everything we expect
to see from their original counterparts. Max is new at this, virtually
untrained despite a certain amount of physical prowess, and he makes one
crazy mistake after another while trying to be all he can be (I won't give
away what happens when he flies a plane to 99's rescue, but I can still
laugh out loud thinking about it). But he perseveres with guts and
a refusal to quit, and the script doesn't let any of the iconic Maxwell
Smartisms unused (“Sorry about that, Chief,” “Missed it by that much,”
“Would you believe...?” and so many more). For her part, Hathaway
is every bit the ubercompetent 99 we expect, clicking with Carell both
as rivals and, finally, a couple. Interestingly, the plot tries to
cut down on the 21 year age difference between the actors by saying her
plastic surgery has “taken a few years off” 99's appearance, making her
parhaps the first actress ever to suggest that she's older than she looks...
The supporting cast is pitch-perfect.
Arkin makes a wonderful Chief, his own character nicely filled out with
a king-sized chip on his shoulder about CONTROL's place in the intelligence
hierarchy. It's a real delight when he gets to join in on the action
late in the game. Johnson uses his Big Man on Campus charm to perfection
as the agent Max wishes he was. Stamp provides real menace by doing
his thing as KAOS's top agent. David Koechner is a master of unjustified
arrogance, and his Larabee is a hoot and a half, as is Terry Crews as
Agent 91. Caan does a nice riff on George Bush, capturing his well-documented
dimwitted streak and belief that just about everything is funny without
lapsing into caricature. Lindsay Hollister has a memorable scene
as a plus-sized woman who dances with Max at a party. And Masi Oka
and Nate Torrance are funny as Max's tech geek pals at CONTROL, although
perhaps not quite funny enough to warrant the direct-to-video spinoff movie
in which they'll be appearing in two weeks.
For this sort of endeavor,
Get
Smart's action is both plentiful and exciting. It enhances the
comic potency of Max's questionable competence that he's a participant
in what is otherwise a legitimate action movie. This is far and away
the finest film of Segal's career (he's best known for his work with Adam
Sandler on movies like 50 First Dates and The Longest Yard:
I enjoyed his 1996 Jack Lemmon/James Garner vehicle My Fellow Americans),
and he does a splendid job balancing the movie's different tones.
Kuddos are also due to writers Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember and to composer
Trevor Rabin, who made Irving Szathmary's iconic Get Smart Theme
the cornerstone of a first-rate score.
I love the Get Smart
series, and Steve Carell is one of my favorite movie stars. But even
with those factors in play, Get Smart is far better than I had any
reason to expect, continuing an unusually strong summer movie season.
Would you believe it's gonna pick up the Oscar as 2008's Best Picture?
How about a Golden Globe nomination for Best Comedy or Musical? A
four-star review at lamarsmoviepalace.com?
Sorry, couldn't help myself. |
