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Get Smart
Based on the trailers, I was looking forward to a relatively intelligent spy spoof, with a certain amount of slapstick humour which would cater to the average American cinema goer. On watching the opening credits, and seeing Mel Brooks’ name prominently displayed, I wound down my thinking from the intelligent part, and wound it up on the slapstick part, and as a result I really enjoyed it.
Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) gets promoted to field agent and teams up with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) as a result of Control’s database being hacked by Chaos, real original names, but at least they don’t try to justify them with an acronym like S.P.E.C.T.R.E. He subsequently gets framed as a double agent, and ultimately escapes and manages to clear his name will capturing the bad guy, all while maintaining a large amount of incompetence.
The gags come thick and fast, with Steve Carell , probably one of the best people in the business at keeping a straight face while doing the dumbest things, taking the brunt of most of them. Dwayne Johnson (a.k.a. “The Rock”), who has managed to successfully take the acting training he got in professional wrestling, and turn it into a legitimate acting career, after a couple of false starts, plays the super agent and all round nice guy, while Anne Hathaway plays the love interest, partner, and super spy number 2. Of course, no review of this film would be complete without mentioning James Caan’s stunning portrayal of the current US president, George W. Bush. It must have been a relief for the writers to not have to make anything up for that to be funny.
Dodginess
Having Mel Brooks associated with your film gives it automatic standing as dodgy, and this one, while not containing quite as much dodginess as some of his other offerings, still manages a respectable 4 on the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man scale. Restraint is not a word that could be associated with the gags in this film and unfortunately, sometimes the over the top nature of much of the humour does tend to detract from the enjoyment. There was one scene in which the excess was just the right amount, the dance duel, which you’ll just have to watch to appreciate. Suffice to say, it was memorable enough to win the dodgiest moment.
Rewatchability Rating
The rewatchability of this one is a little difficult to judge based on a single vewing, and should probably lie somewhere between three and four. However, we aren’t cruel enough on this site to cut a smiley face into fractions so I’ll give this one the benefit of the doubt and score it a 4 on the rewatchability index. The humour may lose something on rewatching, but it may be like Spaceballs and prove to have so much to appreciate that one viewing just doesn’t cut it.
Most Memorable Quote
With visual humour being predominant, there is one moment that just epitomises the sheer outrageousness of the slapstick. “Were you thinking, "Holy shit, holy shit, a sword fish almost went through my head"?” not much more needs to be said about that one.
Final Thoughts
If you’ve enjoyed any other Mel Brooks efforts, you’ll enjoy this one. If you’re not a big fan of Mel Brooks, watch it at least once, just for the incredibly realistic portrayal of the US President by James Caan. If I hadn’t seen George W. on TV, I would have thought that this performance was over the top like most of the film. But, sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction.