Movie Review of Get Smart

As someone who grew up watching reruns of Get Smart on Nick at Nite, I was a little hesitant about a new Get Smart movie. Sure Steve Carell looks a little bit like Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway can pass for a younger version of Agent 99, but can they act like the characters from the original series? The track record of movie adaptations of old TV shows is very sketchy (The Fugitive could be one of the few good adaptations). This adaptation directed by Peter Segal (Director of many recent hits including the Longest Yard and Fifty First Dates) seems to get it right by updating the series yet staying true to the same type of humor that made the 1960s sitcom so memorable. .

The plot is simple. An attack by the crime organization KAOS on Control Spy Headquarters in Washington reveals almost all the names of the control field agents. The Chief of Control has no choice but to promote case analyst Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) to field agent. Max is paired with the only other field agent whose identity has not been compromised: Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Their task is to infiltrate KAOS and prevent another attack.

There were one or two very predictable plot twists in the movie (although the show was not immune to predictability at points either). The movie seemed to use the right actors to portray the characters from the original series. Surprisingly one of the best casting choices could have been James Caan who portrayed the President. While I'm not the biggest Steve Carell fan, at certain points it almost felt like he was channeling the late Don Adams in his own way. There are a few points in the movie where he mutters classic Agent 86 lines and almost sounds exactly like Don Adams.

Anne Hathaway does a great job as Agent 99. They even explain into the plot why she looks younger than Barbara Feldon did on the television series. She's a little bit more of a fighter than I remember 99 in the series being. There is also excellent chemistry between her and Steve Carrell. The chemistry is a bit more fiery than the original series but it doesn't take away from the movie at all. .

Overall I would rate this movie a four out of five stars. No one is probably going to win an academy award over this movie. Steve Carell won't be suddenly cast as Hamlet as a result of this nor is the movie in the same category as Citizen Kane or the Godfather but it is still a very entertaining and enjoyable movie.