Get Smart
Starring: Steve Carrel, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0425061/
This review contains minor spoilers.
Get Smart was a show that I remember vaguely watching when I was really young. It was one of the few more “adult” shows that my parents would let me watch and I remember thinking it was amazing. From the awesome music and intro to the hilarious comedy, I have great memories of this show. However it was so long ago that I don’t have many memories apart from the intro sequence and some of the more repeated cliches and catch-phrases. So while I may not be the best person to talk about how faithful it was, I think they made exactly the right movie. It was not really like the show but it hit all of the right beats and was just what they should have done.
Steve Carrel is at his best playing the oblivious but extremely well meaning klutz, and so he was a fairly obvious choice for the lead role. He did a great job and he was hilarious – his physical comedy is something rarely seen in recent years – but he was definetly not the only great part of this film. Anne Hathaway brought her own form of more subdued comedy to the table, and Alan Arkin was hilarious in a more classic sort of way. Of course there was also Dwayne Johnson who I have started really enjoying ever since he decided that he could do comedy. He doesn’t have any qualms with making a fool of himself which makes it even more hilarious since he’s such a big guy.
Perhaps my favorite bit of casting – and subsequently acting – was on the part of Bill Murray who had a small cameo which was probably one of the most funny scenes in the film. And the character quirks were also a throwback to the original series, one of many. They had the iconic Shoe Phone and Cone of Silence, as well as the classic “Would you believe” and “Sorry about that chief” lines. It was the best way to show tribute to the original series instead of trying to completely remake it just with a new cast. The film would not have been as good had it been more similar to the show, it needed to be its own film.
The writing – while overshadowed by the acting itself – was great. It occasionally drifted towards the overly cliche and slightly ridiculous but for the most part it was hilarious and not groan-inducing like many recent comedies. The direction was decent, and cinematography also pretty good, but this movie is about the comedy and that is where it shines. It also goes to show that you can have a great comedy that adults will enjoy, and still keep a PG-13 rating. You don’t need crude language and sexual jokes to make a great comedy. I would recommend it to any fans of the T.V. series, as well as anyone who just wants an excellent family friendly comedy.
I Watch Too Many Movies 