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The Spies Have It

There have been dozens of TV-to-film adaptations over the last several years ("Bewitched" comes to mind as the most ill-advised), but "Get Smart" is one of the few cases in which a jump to the big screen actually makes sense. Created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, the original television show was a spoof of James Bond films and shows like "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "Mission: Impossible". While satirizing the spy genre, it also served to ease Cold War tensions by poking fun at both sides. KAOS (the bad guys) were evil, but they were bungling and incompetent. CONTROL's top agent, Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) was also inept, but just lucky enough to thwart their plans for world domination.

Here, "Get Smart" gets an update. Maxwell Smart is a CONTROL intelligence analyst who dreams of being a field agent. In the opening sequence, Max — laden with papers and files — walks through a museum exhibit of Cold War-era CONTROL relics. Past the shoe phone, the red convertible and the mod 3-piece suit, he enters a secret door and to the bunker below, reenacting the show's iconic opening sequence.

Though he is out-shined by flashy, James Bond-like field agents such as Agent 23 (Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson), Max's skills as an analyst are formidable. So much so, that when Max passes his agent's exam, the Chief (a marvelously cantankerous Alan Arkin) refuses to promote him. In an irony to which many desk jockeys can relate, Max finds his dreams of advancement thwarted by his own competence.  

After KAOS manages to infiltrate their headquarters, CONTROL finds that the identities of all their field agents have been compromised. This leaves only one unknown agent — Maxwell Smart, the newly-minted Agent 86. While veteran agents like 23 are stuck with desk duty, Max is sent on a mission to track down KAOS and find a store of missing nuclear weapons. He's teamed with Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who, conveniently, recently had full facial reconstruction to hide her identity (and to shave a few years off). Unlike Barbara Feldon's competent but fawning 99, Hathaway's 99 is a martial arts master and seasoned pro. She's annoyed by Smart's inexperience. He's bothered by her unconventional methods.

The differences in their characters are expressed in the film's most enjoyable comedic set piece: a lively dance number in the villa of a Russian arms dealer. While the seductive 99 masterfully partners with the arms dealer, gallant Max chooses an overweight wallflower as his dance partner. The two partners challenge each other with brio, in brilliant fits of physical comedy.

From there, the plot of "Get Smart" is cobbled together from a variety of spy thrillers — from "Three Days of the Condor" and "The Man Who Knew Too Much" to the Goldie Hawn/Chevy Chase comedy "Foul Play". As the evil KAOS agent, Siegfried, Terence Stamp has little to do but look stern and threaten his henchmen, but he's terribly good at it. Big-budget action sequences overshadow the slapstick in the second half, which makes one wonder if "Get Smart" is trying to be an action movie with comedy, or mainly a comedy with action.

And then there are the not-so-veiled political statements. As an analyst, Max tries to convince his team that the only way to fight the enemy is to truly understand him — including his language, his habits and family life. There are the digs at the Bush administration, from the President's mispronunciation of "nuclear" to the Vice President's contentious relationship with the Joint Chiefs.
The main draw for "Get Smart" is (and should be) Steve Carell as Max. Instead of imitating the Don Adams character, he makes Max his own. Unlike the TV version, Smart isn't bumbling or self-aggrandizing. In fact, he's more than competent. His gaffes are merely the result of having no practical experience in the field. What Carell keeps from Adams is his delivery of Max's iconic catch phrases ("Would you believe...", "missed it by that much...", "sorry, Chief" and so on), using his cadence and timing without aping the nasal intonation.

For stalwart fans of the show, the film is peppered with enough references and catch phrases to pay homage to the original. However, there's not so much inside material as to leave new viewers in the cold. In fact, aside from the references, "Get Smart" doesn't feel much like the TV show at all. The biting satire and Mel Brooks goofiness are replaced with more slapstick, sight gags and over-the-top action sequences. It's "The Naked Gun" meets "True Lies". It may not be "Smart", but it's still silly, pleasant fun.