On Screen / Linda Cook

Movie review: 'Get Smart'

By Linda Cook | Friday, July 04, 2008 | () comments

Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell star in the 21st-century version of “Get Smart.” (Warner Bros.) Buy this Photo

“GET SMART”

2 stars

Running time: One hour and 50 minutes

Rated: PG-13 for sexual situations and foul language

Yes, there are a lot of us baby boomers who will want to see “Get Smart” for the nostalgia factor.

And a lot of us will wish we’d watched reruns instead.

Here’s yet another average retread of a popular television show. I don’t know how many of these things will be churned out, but I’m guessing Hollywood is running out of series to remake … or maybe no one can figure out who to cast as Gilligan and The Skipper.

The beginning of “Get Smart” is entertaining because it’s a re-creation of the original television show that starred Don Adams. You’ll hear the unmistakable old theme song, with Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) walking through a group of doors that deliver him to the inner workings of CONTROL, a secret operation that does battle with KAOS. The Chief (Alan Arkin) is Smart’s boss, who has the sad assignment to tell Max he will remain an analyst and not an agent.

Then, a KAOS agent named Siegfried (Terrence Stamp) attacks CONTROL headquarters. And Max suddenly finds himself promoted to agent and on an assignment that involves Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Also on hand is Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson), who is the coolest guy around.

Max is attracted to Agent 99, but she spurns him at first, going so far as to say publicly that he doesn’t have the experience she wants in a partner. Max is the underdog, the guy everyone bets on being a failure. So he has to try extra-hard as they complete their assignment together to not only track down the vile KAOS mastermind but also to win her heart.

It’s true that I laughed a few times. But, on the whole, this could have been any less-than-stellar comedy. Its few saving graces involve nods to the series, such as the “cameo” of a Sunbeam car (that’s what Adams drove on TV) and the catchphrases “Sorry about that, chief” and “Missed it by that much.” Also, Bernie Kopell, who played the original Siegfried, makes a seconds-long cameo.

But there’s nothing exceptional in the script, and there’s little chemistry between Hathaway and Carell. It would be smart to take in a matinee or wait until the DVD comes out.