Film Reviews

Get Smart

• Rating:
• Director: Peter Segal
• Starring: Alan Arkin
• Details: USA / 110mins / (12A)

It's hard to know what's worse; being the best thing in pedestrian comedies, or not expanding on God-given talent. Steve Carrell is better than this, just like he was better than Evan Almighty. There may be some funny moments in Get Smart, but you can feel Carrell squeezing every last drip of chuckle out of a series of bland scenes, that seem overly staged and forced. For those who don't know, 'Smart' is based on the popular 1960s American show about a bumbling spy with a shoe phone. Carrell takes the lead role of Maxwell Smart, while a horribly miscast Anne Hathaway plays his asskicking partner. Dwayne Johnson is the alpha agent who everyone looks up to, while Alan Arkin takes on the amusing role of the genial boss. When their HQ is infiltrated by a mysterious group looking to put a mushroom cloud over LA, Smart must track down the culprits and save the day. Exactly the type of inoffensive pap that seems to clean up at the box office, it's by no means terrible - just boring and wholly unoriginal. We've simply seen this type of plot far too many times before, and executed to more satisfactory effect, too. It's also hard to know what the filmmakers were thinking when they cast Hathaway as a love interest for Carrell (despite an utterly nonsensical character expansion that explains her youth), as anything interesting she does is performed by a stunt double. Charming in The Devil Wears Prada, she's mere wallpaper here, and doesn't have the presence to pull off this type of role yet. The artist formally known as The Rock fares slightly better, but has very little to do other than flash that blinding, toothy grin and frown when applicable. Arkin is always watchable though, especially when going for the Vice President in one of the movie's funniest scenes. Everything else comes down to Carrell, who manages more laughs than the barely-functional script warranted; his energy is infectious, despite lacking decent material to work with. An instantly forgettable and unsatisfying comedy, that will appeal only to the most undemanding of viewers.

Review by Mike Sheridan