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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 08/21/2008 : 15:03:22
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Get Smart
Well, I was all set to hate this, but it soon won me over. Well, the comedy part did anyway.
And, of course, I realized the bedrock of the film, as the tv series of yesteryear, is that funteam known as Buck Henry and Mel Brooks. Now Brooks does dry up from time to time, I admit, but in the co-creation of Maxwell Smart, the fuck-up agent of Control who manages to come up trumps, well, that's a classic.
And then there's Steve Carell, who really shows his comic potential here via a series of understated reactions and the kind of bravery otherwise described as foolhardy. Both Dwayne Johnson and Anne Hathaway, as fellow agents, prove good foils as rival and partner respectively.
But Carell really meets his comic match with Alan Arkin as Control's Chief. But it's Arkin's character which also points up the film's weaknesses, the major one of which is dimension.
None of the characters is allowed to have a real off-screen life, though we are treated to illustrated snippets of recounted incidents. We never really get to know them as people. And that makes the central relationship between Smart Agent 86 and pert partner Agent 99 completely unbelievable. There's no onscreen chemistry - though I have to say the tv ads for the film prove in 30 seconds that the two have a good rapport.
So, if we're not rooting for the couple to go from cold rejection to final curtain goo-goo eyes, we're left with the comedy and comic actioin. 'Cause the plot ain't nothing to write home about either. Typical Control versus KAOS stuff that doesn't bear too much analysis.
But action is certainly there, some of it quite clever indeed.
And the comedy's never in doubt.
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Demisemicenturian 
"Four ever European"
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Posted - 08/25/2008 : 02:02:08
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| I fell asleep repeatedly, so that's not a great sign, but I think I may go and see it again. |
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ChocolateLady
"500 Chocolate Delights"
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Posted - 08/25/2008 : 06:18:28
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| From the clips I've seen, it actually looks like Carrell and Hathaway decided NOT to try to immitate Adams and Feldon, but be their own 86 and 99, which is a good thing. However, I still will probably wait until this comes on TV. |
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Demisemicenturian
"Four ever European"
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Get Smart
