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Sorry about that

The new “Get Smart” movie faced the task of meeting the expectations of the television show on which the film was based. As one Kaos agent once told Maxwell Smart in the TV series when Agent 86 claimed that he was in the casino to gamble, “You gambled and you lost.”

It wasn’t reasonable to expect that Steve Carell, who stars as Maxwell Smart in the movie, could replicate Don Adams’ distinct voice. It was, however, reasonable to expect that Warner Brothers Pictures and the writers could replicate Maxwell Smart’s wit. The movie didn’t even match up to the television show, let alone reach that level above the free small screen which would justify payment to see the film.

Maxwell Smart begins the movie as an analyst for Control, which supposedly was abolished at the end of the Cold War and now publicly exists only as a museum display. Maxwell has lost 150 pounds and desires to be a field agent. He passes the field agent test, but Chief (played by Alan Arkin) decides that Maxwell is too valuable as an analyst.

When Control headquarters are ransacked and the identities of the field agents become known to the perpetrators, Maxwell is reassigned as a field agent. He is sent to Russia along with his new partner, Agent 99 (played by Anne Hathaway), who had plastic surgery after the compromise of her identity.

Kaos is still active, and in the age of available material for nuclear weapons Siegfried (Terence Stamp) puts together a plan as well as a bomb, although Stamp doesn’t put together Bernie Kopell’s false German accent.

The movie posters have the slogan “Saving the world…and loving it.” Alas, Maxwell Smart doesn’t use “and loving it” in the film, nor does he use the classic “Don’t tell me”/“I told you not to tell me that.” He only uses “Missed it by that much” twice, the film contains only one “Would you believe” sequence and “Sorry, Chief” is the closest the movie came to “Sorry about that.”

In other words, it’s not Maxwell Smart. One can accept the updated world situation, the early stage of Maxwell’s field agent career, and the lack of a Don Adams voice, but one cannot accept Maxwell Smart not being Maxwell Smart.

While the movie’s Maxwell Smart doesn’t use the classic lines uttered by the television version, the re-use of a television show joke early in the film also nullifies efforts to go above and beyond the original series. When Maxwell becomes a field agent, he is given a pill which causes a quick, painless death if he is captured, and as he did in one TV episode he asks, “How do I get them to take it?”

Agent 13 makes a brief appearance, as does the Cone of Silence. Hymie appears only at the end of the film. Larrabee, who was merely incompetent during the television broadcasts, is arrogant in the movie.

The film involves a double agent, but the viewers might want to compare the filmmakers to double agents. The more one enjoyed the television show, the more disappointed one will likely be after seeing the movie. It would be nice to have fresh “Get Smart” episodes, but the movie is a false “Get Smart.”

 

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