Sidewalks On The Corner

From the small screen to the silver screen, the classic TV series Get Smart takes flight as Steve Carell (NBC’s The Office and one-time Sidewalks guest) reincarnates the title character.

Follow up:

GET SMART
Warner Bros. Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures
Rated PG-13 by the MPAA for some rude humor, action violence and language.

Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson*, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, Masi Oka, Nate Torrence, Ken Davitian and James Caan
Directed by: Peter Segal
Screenplay by: Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember

STUDIO SYNOPSIS:
In the all-new action comedy “Get Smart,” Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is on a mission to thwart the latest plot for world domination by the evil crime syndicate known as KAOS.

When the headquarters of U.S. spy agency CONTROL is attacked and the identities of its agents compromised, the Chief (Alan Arkin) has no choice but to promote his ever-eager analyst Maxwell Smart, who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside stalwart superstar Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson). Smart is partnered instead with the only other agent whose identity has not been compromised: the lovely-but-lethal veteran Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway).

As Smart and 99 get closer to unraveling KAOS’ master plan—and each other—they discover that key KAOS operative Siegfried (Terence Stamp) and his sidekick Shtarker (Kenneth Davitian) are scheming to cash in with their network of terror. Given little field experience and even less time, Smart—armed with nothing but a few spy-tech gadgets and his unbridled enthusiasm—must defeat KAOS if he is to save the day.

J.P.'s TAKE:
In 1965, Mel Brooks and Buck Henry created the super agent spoof TV series Get Smart, which became a cult classic and continued on until the early 1970s. In 1989, it was turned into the television movie "Get Smart, Again," then revived as a short lived series in 1995 with Andy Dick. Now, it's finally made it to the silver screen, with some interesting results. Those of you who remember the original series know that it focused solely on the comedy, with Don Adams as the bumbling Agent 86/Maxwell Smart. In the original series, Brooks and Henry practically invented subliminal comedy with little incidences like someone tripping and starting a chain reaction of events that happen in the background or pervasive catch phrases. The new film version is another beast entirely.

To be honest, I wasn't really sure whether or not I would like this film, although after viewing many trailers I was interested in seeing it. It actually exceeded my expectations. The film is a complete 180 degrees from the TV show, with the attention focused on the action. I didn't expect the subtle touches of violence with people being shot or buildings being blown up with great force, and a car chase sequence that resembles one found in the movie "Bad Boys." Then, there are the crazy stunts like the sky diving scene where Maxwell Smart / Agent 86 (Steve Carell) accidentally ejected himself from a plane without a parachute and Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) has to rescue him, which is actually pretty hilarious. However, I felt some of comedic antics were a little predictable, especially the scene where Smart pulls out his multi function pocket knife, which had a blow dart gun on it, and instead of blowing out the dart, he sucks it in. Midway through the film, the writers break up the barrel of laughs with some touching moment and some mellow drama, with Agent 99 having some feelings for Agent 86. All in all it's pretty much your standard action comedy.

Steve Carell did a nice job of filling the shoes of Don Adams pretty well. Even though Carell maintained a straight face most of the time, he still managed to squeeze the comedy out of every moment. The comedy came out in his physicality and his straight laced demeanor; playing it cool on the outside, while simmering with laughter on the inside. Anne Hathaway usually plays the light hearted, prissy, good girl type roles. She steps out of that world and into the role of Agent 99. In the show Agent 99 (played by (Barbara Feldon) was the straight women to Maxwell Smart (Don Adams). In the new film, Hathaway takes a different approach to the character. She's bitchy, she's confrontational with a touch of sarcasm, and she literally kicks tushy, as Agent 99 as she karate-chops her way through villains. Nice work for her first time as a secret agent.

Alan Arkin plays "The Chief,” who does a nice job of playing his part; however, there was nothing outstanding about his character. But I give him credit for portraying his character as a tough old bird who won't take crap from any one. Dwayne Johnson (no longer going by "The Rock"), plays the pretty boy agent, Agent 23. Johnson is not just there for his good looks; he also provides some comic relief as well.

There is an army of supporting cast members from Terry Crews (Agent 91), David Koechner (Larabee). Heroes’ Masi Oka (Bruce), Reno 911’s Nate Torrence (Lloyd). All were funny. There is a special appearance by Bernie Kopell, who played Siegfried in the original Get Smart" series. Also in the film, cameo appearances by Bill Murray as Agent 13, Kevin Nealon as CIA Agent #2 and Geoffrey Pierson as the Vice President.

For those of you who remembered the show, you just might get a kick out of seeing the movie, although I felt "Get Smart" ran a bit long, it was better than I expected. The result is a funny action comedy made for fans new and old, with nice combination of action, comedy and drama.