dir. Peter Segal
writ. Tom J. Astle & Matt Ember, characters by Mel Brooks & Buck Henry
feat. Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin
With a funny and inviting teaser trailer and the excellent casting of Carell in the Don Adams role, Get Smart offered a chance at a viable conversion from small to big screen, and even supported the notion for the first ten minutes. Sadly, it then dips deeply into overwrought love story development, half-assed action sequences (with a few pleasant gems), and the most obvious and predictable plot twist ever conceived. Rushing through that dubious moment in an effort to conceal the sleight of hand only broadcasts the presence of the "surprise" insider villain.
As talented an actress as Hathaway is, her slight, yet impossible to eradicate, waspy nasal tone is just off for Agent 99, never as dry as Barbara Feldon, losing some of the straight man power. Johnson's wonderful introduction as the hyper-sexy superagent is blown as the film goes on, and though Arkin remains brilliant, he can't save the picture even when he helps save the day.
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