Steve Carell Movie:

				Label: Warner Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Theatrical Release

Editorial Review:
The Cold War may be over, but that doesn't mean it can't still be milked for laughs. Get Smart, the sassy film version of the Mel Brooks/Buck Henry-created '60s TV satire, brings plenty of elements of the original series and spins it freshly into the new world of bad guys in the 21st century, pretty much without losing a beat. Steve Carell is perfectly cast as the bumbling Maxwell Smart--but in a slick improvement on the TV show, Smart isn't really hapless--though he has a bit of a self-esteem problem (all around his apartment are sticky notes with exhortations like "You can DO it!"). Carell's Maxwell Smart is a sharp techie researcher at the uber-secret crime-battling agency, CONTROL, who's just a little out of his element out in the field. As his data-crunching sidekick Bruce (Masi Oka of Heroes) says, "We're the ones guarding democracy!", aghast that Max would want to be an agent.

But Max longs for the action enjoyed by the likes of Agent 23 (a godlike Dwayne Johnson), with glamorous deployments around the world. When he finally gets his dream assignment--as the newly minted Agent 86--he's paired up with the slick and experienced Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who provides great lines, not to mention some interesting chemistry, while she continually saves Max from harm's way. The cast is terrific, with memorable appearances by Alan Arkin as the Chief, Terrence Stamp as the head of the uber-evil KAOS, and Bill Murray as a (literally) put-out-to-pasture agent whose spy post is inside a tree ("really great, old-school stuff" he calls his assignment). And there's plenty of action, explosions, and creative shootouts with the bad guys (highlight: a freefall from a plane, with two people and just two parachutes). But it's Carell and his combination of insecure yearning and deadpan delivery that make Get Smart as, well, smart as it is. When Max learns he's finally been promoted to agent, he slips into the Cone of Silence--which unfortunately is malfunctioning. "I'm so happy! I'm so happy!" he yells, as his colleagues sit nearby hearing the whole thing. Discovering that, he purses his lips and says, "Well, that's a sucker-punch to the gonads." Sorry about that. --A.T. Hurley

Get Smart [Theatrical Release] Reviews:
You may smart somewhere but you won't be smarter
2008-09-20 - That film does not try to make you smart or to be smart itself. In fact it wants you to feel it, it wants you to smart with a big pain you know where because of too much laughing. So it is not witty, nor intellectually humorous. It is just plain silly and dumb so that you may laugh at the antics. Mel Brooks is behind that kind of humor and it is hilarious. Do not think you may get out of it smarter or even wiser. If you recognize the models, the remake of James Bond and even the remake of a 1970s TV parody of James Bond, you might be lighter in the head. You may also recognize some other allusions. But that is all. The only dense aspect in this film is the obsession with the new cold war that would be coming up from Russia. That is a typical American obsession. They make you laugh at it, though it may be serious, but everyone who is sane enough to get up in the morning and go to bed at night will shrug at least one shoulder and just say, the Russians are back, so what! Once again the USA are holding the can of paint and providing the brush and they pretend it is the Russians who are pushing everyone around. But well, as long as they make us laugh at it, why not. Maybe one day the USA will become capable of dropping their superiority complex and they paranoia and see that there are quite many people in the world and that they are all different and they all want to keep their differences. Then maybe we will be able to build a world of peace and concentrate on the delinquents who have to be chased, hunted and brought down. But we must first get rid of the warmongers among us who are spoiling our lives.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines


this is a hilarious movie!!!!!
2008-09-16 - I haven't laughed so hard in a movie in a long time. The laughs don't stop the entire time. Steve Carell is a comedic acting genius.

Very funny
2008-09-10 - I laughed the whole time. Way better than I expected. Hoping for a sequel.

One Of The Funniest Movies Of The Summer
2008-09-07 - Walking into Get Smart, I had a reservation of two. While I'm a fan of Steve Carrel he struck out big time with last summer's flop Evan Almighty. Mr. Carrel redeemed himself last year with the sharp witted and heart warming Dan In Real Life which showcased his strong dramatic talent first seen in Little Miss Sunshine, but in Get Smart were treated to the funny Carrel we were first exposed to in The 40 Year Old Virgin. Unlike comedies of recent memory including the disastrous You Don't Mess With The Zohan, Get Smart provided me with numerous laughs mixed in with the right amount of action. Carrel is given the chance to shine with each of the principal actors the ever sexy Anne Hathway, the always reliable Alan Arkin and the comedic star in the making Dwayne Johnson. I'm hoping Get Smart will become a franchise for Steve Carrel, as he's proven he can carry a big budget summer movie.

Praise for most outstanding mediocrity of the year
2008-09-01 - If you love a good parody (mostly of Bond in this case), but don't want to run the risk of laughing yourself into stationary hospital care with broken ribs or hernias, then this is the product for you. Take your whole extended family and neighborhood to a movie outing, nobody will be offended by anything in it. Not even your friends from Russia. After all the bad guy played by good old Stamp is called Siegfried.
The story is funny, the actors are funny, the jokes are funny.
Why then 4 stars and not 3 for so much average-ness? because the extreme of not-outstandingness must be rewarded!