Get Smart
Dir Peter Segal, (PG) featuring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp
By Hank Sartin
In taking Maxwell Smart out of the Cold War into a new millennium, writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember have retained all the signature jokes ("Sorry about that, Chief" "Would you believe..." "Missed it by that much.") but have softened Max almost beyond recognition.
You can almost imagine the script conference - "Max needs a goal and a sympathetic backstory!" - and so the spy (Carell, who seems to be shoe-phoning it in) has been transformed from dense bumbler to a klutzy but smart intelligence analyst who dreams of being a field agent. When all Control's operatives are compromised, Max gets his chance.
Joining him are Agent 99 (Hathaway, trying gamely with weak material) and superspy Agent 23 (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, whose comic gifts recall a bull in a china shop, but with better teeth).
Director Peter Segal (Tommy Boy, Anger Management) displays his usual middling feel for comedy, flatly presenting gags due much more. The real fun is watching old pros like Arkin (as the Chief) and Stamp (as evil Siegfried) sell material that doesn't deserve the love they give it. Missed it by that much.
View the trailer below