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Get Smart

Get Smart is adapted from Mel Brooks and Buck Henry’s characters of the popular television series. Steve Carell is Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, recently promoted filed ops from being the best analyst Control (U.S. spy agency) has seen. He partners up with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to battle the forces of KAOS who threaten world domination. Alan Arkin, Dwayne Johnson and a laundry list of actors fill in the backdrop to provide a boatload of laughs along the way.

Get Smart seems to be carried by the Carell’s charm which stems from his idiotic nature from his The Office’s Michael Scott character without the maliciousness in jokes. Quite honestly, I thought he was fairly reserved and didn’t come off as a bumbling idiot as depicted in the TV show. He’s clearly complimented with his better half partner Agent 99, who’s skilled in all areas and can leave Smart in the dust. Sure Smart has his dubious and moronic moments, but all and all I think he edges out Inspector Clouseau from The Pink Panther series.

Anne Hathaway is a touch cookie to crack in this film as she is tough and ambitious kicking butt and taking names. Her chemistry with Carell is poignant and well juxtaposed as it follows the typical formulaic clash of different personalities. I felt that the Carell’s antics in conjunction with Hathaway were silly without being absurdly stupid. There were moments of clever delivery that generated good laughs.

It’s a heartfelt and fun action comedy. Every scene seems to deliver laughs and towards the end the action and explosions intensify, not forgetting the notion that this is in fact a spy movie. And in spy movies, there has to be chases, gun fights, and lots of explosions, which get Smart is not short of. It engages the secondary actors so that when Carell and Hathaway aren’t on screen, the movie doesn’t skip a beat.

This is nothing revolutionary or incredibly special as it resembles a typical summer comedy. It’s fun and gets you out of the sun for two hours as you watch Carell overcome adversity and gags. So if you’re looking for something out of the home to go watch, get off the couch, get smart, go see Get Smart and leave The Love Guru out of it.

Written by: John Berkowitz

Reviewers Rating: 6
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