Get Smart

Genre - Comedy/Action
Year Released - 2008
Running Time - 110 minutes
Directed by Peter Segal (who also directed Tommy Boy and 50 First Dates)
Written by Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember (both of whom also wrote Failure to Launch)
*Based on the television series from the late 60's - written by Mel Brooks (who also wrote Young Frankenstein and Spaceballs) and Buck Henry (who also wrote The Graduate and To Die For)
Cast Includes:
Steve Carell (Bruce & Evan Almighty, The 40 Year Old Virgin, Dan In Real Life, as well as the television series The Office)
Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries 1 & 2, Ella Enchanted, Havoc, and The Devil Wears Prada - she is also going to be in next year's Bride Wars with Kate Hudson, as well as being rumored to be the 'white queen' in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, due in 2010)
Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson (The Scorpion King, the 2004 Re-make of Walking Tall, Doom, and The Game Plan - he was also the only good part of Be Cool)
Alan Arkin (So I Married an Axe Murderer and Grosse Pointe Blank)
Terrence Stamp (General Zod in Superman 1 & 2 - he is also the voice of Jor-El in Smallville)
* Also, James Caan plays the President and look for cameos by Bill Murray & Patrick Warburton

Rating: 3 Skulls

Plot Summary:
When the identities of secret agents from Control are compromised, the Chief promotes hapless but eager analyst Maxwell Smart and teams him with stylish, capable Agent 99, the only spy whose cover remains intact.
Now, they must work together to thwart the evil plans of KAOS and its crafty operative Siegfried.

Review:
I started to watch the DVD with the additional scenes that were added to the film (in the introduction, Steve Carell explains that if they had been included, the movie would have ended up being 9 hours and 27 minutes long. He also stated that the additional scenes increases the funny quotient by 62%) However, to see the additional scenes, an icon appeared, where you then had to hit enter on the remote control in order to view the scene - this was way too distracting - I do not know why they could not have just included those scenes separately under a 'Deleted Scenes' feature.


I have never seen the television show that this movie is based upon, and I doubt that it really makes a difference. However, my wife is familiar with the show, and she was keying me in to little tidbits of information that were pretty cool.

As for the movie, it was definitely funny, and it had several laugh out loud moments. Steve Carell is always funny, in my opinion, and he was perfect for the role of an over-analytical analyst, turned secret agent. Anne Hathaway as his suave partner was an excellent choice as well, as was "the Rock" as the ultra-cool Agent 23.
Whoever played the Russian lackey was great as well - that dude was huge!

My favorite line from the movie is probably when the Chief of Control (Alan Arkin) tells someone that if they screw up again, "he will have them hunting for landmines with a hammer"!

One other thing of interest (for me) was the Disney Music Hall - I have to wonder if the architect who designed that building is the same architect who designed the Sci-Fi Museum in Seattle. . .

One more thing - there were two other Control analysts named Bruce (Masi Oka, who plays Hiro in Heroes) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence) They actually have a spin-off movie entitled Bruce & Lloyd: Out of Control
[I know that it is available on Netflix Instant - perhaps if I get some time this week, I will watch that movie as well]

Jason