prodigaljon

GET SMART is pretty much what you'd expect from a big-budget Hollywood adaptation of the old t.v. series. There's a thin plot that unravels with increasing quickness as the end credits approach, including a plot twist that will be immediately obvious to anybody who realizes that they're watching a movie. There are lots of nods and winks to the old series - the shoe phone, the catchphrase, the cameos from old supporting characters and surviving actors from the original. There are big action sequences and comfortable jokes as the movie tries to be both an action and a comedy (and never really winds up connecting with either).

Where SMART separates itself from the STARSKIES and the HUTCHES is in the casting. Steve Carell's Maxwell Smart is a genuinely likable and charismatic character, one who effortlessly fills the movie screen. He's also re-conceived as an analyst with dreams of being an agent, and is therefore a kinder, more competent and less arrogant Maxwell Smart. And one for whom you can't help but root. Add great turns from the supporting cast (including a gorgeous Anne Hathaway segueing into a decidedly non-feminist Barbara Feldon impression by movie's end) and a couple surprisingly effective action sequences...

...and you have a pretty good time at the movies. Good enough that I wouldn't mind a return engagement with Agent 86. As long as Steve Carell is back in the shoe phone.

I don't know who Marvel is making their movies for. This is a step up from the ULTIMATE AVENGERS series, mostly because it at least seems somewhat interested in the character of Dr. Strange.

Bad voice acting, a plot so generic & thin I'd bet it was written on the John, and an inordinate amount of time and action devoted to secondary characters. I mean, the movie isn't even up to the standards of monthly superhero comics, that bastion of great literature. If they couldn't come up with something cool on their own, why not just adapt one of the many popular stories from the last 40 years? At least Strange squares off against Mordo and Dormammu (kinda) in this one, instead of generic aliens like in AVENGERS (twice). Still, you never get the impression that the people behind this really like the source material or understand what gives Dr. Strange his appeal. It's a movie devoid of creativity, smarts and fun.

I don't mean to give the impression that I'm only critiquing this because it was unlike the comics. I'm mostly critiquing it because it's shallow and dumb. But even if shallow and dumb was a goal, rather than the result of incompetence, tapping into some of the coolness of the character or the Marvel U shouldn't get in the way of that, right? Even those who are satisfied by a movie this banal would likely be satisfied by a mature, intelligent treatment of Strange that also appealed to adult fans, or by a fun kicky movie that spoke to kids (of all ages). A movie like this really satisfies nobody but the very easily satisfied.

What a waste of resources and opportunity.

Remember when comedies used to be actual movies with actual stories with actual points and the funny just flowed out of them, instead of just a flimsy excuse to string together jokes and funny scenes and stock situations? Yeah, me too. What happened?

If you're in the mood for a great movie that will get you to cough up a boatload of honest laughs, then you ain't gonna do better than TOOTSIE. You are not going to find a better written, acted, and directed comedy anywhere. There are plenty as good - but none better. This is a career highpoint for all involved, and when "all" includes names such as Sydney Pollack and Dustin Hoffman, you know that's a sentiment that carries some significant weight.

And it just reaffirms the old adage that every single comedy should have Bill Murray in it.