Variety
Helmer Peter Segal's formulaic takeoff is neither fish nor fowl, not quite faithful to the show, but not quite bringing it into the 21st century either.
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Get Smart
In this TV-adaptation of the 60s spoof spy series, 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 over-eager analyst Maxwell Smart, who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside stalwart superstar Agent 23 (The Rock).
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) is scheming to cash in with his network of terror.
2008Rating: PG111 minsUSA
ActionComedy
- Director:
- Peter Segal ('The Longest Yard', '50 First Dates')
- Writer:
- Tom J. AstleMatt Ember
- Cast:
- Steve CarellAnne HathawayAlan ArkinTerence StampThe Rock
Get Smart / Reviews
Time Magazine
That Max Smart is played by the admirable Steve Carell, who is desperately looking for deadpan jokes in all the wrong places, is beside the point.
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The New York Times
It flounders whenever it tries to weave the real world into its fantasia, partly because it isn't really about anything other than making money, partly because the spy-versus-spy battle doesn't entertain the way it once did.
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Rolling Stone
Director Peter Segal ups the ante on the action, aiming for Bourne more than Bond, but the stunts grow frenzied and increasingly flat.
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New Zealand Herald
Carell might resemble Don Adams' original Max in appearance but he gives him his own strait-laced sense of the ridiculous, while Hathaway's 99 is a fine, feisty foil.
They help Get Smart rise above some pretty low expectations. Though unfortunately they've probably made the world safe for yet more classic TV remakes we're not sure we wanted in the first place.
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Los Angeles Times
Get Smart neglects the laughs and amps up the action, resulting in a not very funny comedy joined at the hip to a not very exciting spy movie. Talk about killing two birds with one stone.
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Christchurch Press
Lacking in plot twists and devoid of laughs, Get Smart misses the mark so often it feels like it's taking the piss.
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