Get Smart

Every few years, mostly between Bond movies, some bright spark sitting in a Hollywood studio comes up with a really good idea for a movie. It will be a poignant tale with action, romance, just the right amount of tension and a story that will feel complete and maybe leaving you thinking about it long after you have left the cinema.

Then the script will get shit-canned because the studio can't afford to make it having blown the last of it's budget on this year's hey-guys-I'm-a-spy-lol Bond spoof.

Now it is the turn of comedian de-jour Steve Carell to take the reins, this time in a remake of 1965 spy comedy series 'Get Smart'. Yes, it's a remake of an old TV series, how's about that.

I could be hard on Get Smart... actually being honest, I can't.

You might say that I am going to give a favorable review solely because I have a thing for the delectable Anne Hathaway, but that is not the reason. That is not the only reason.

Get Smart is, brace yourselves, genuinely funny. The script is witty, the set pieces are superb, the plot is actually good (though the big plot twist you can see coming from roughly 22 minutes into the film), and the performances are well played.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson once again delivers a brilliant performance (see everyone, I told you that he wouldn't be another Hulk Hogan) and at times had me in stitches, but without a doubt the man who ended up with all the best lines was Alan Arkin.

Now earlier I referred to 'this years Bond spoof', and that was being unfair on my part. Get Smart is not a spoof, it is a parody of Bond in much the same way that Galaxy Quest was a parody of Star Trek.

Max Smart is potentially the greatest secret agent within CONTROL but time and time again something goes wrong during the actual execution of his plans, and this is the source of our comedy on his part. In fairness to Carell he plays the role very well and you could see a genuine screen chemistry between himself and Anne Hathaway.

I can't avoid mentioning how great Anne Hathaway actually is in her role as the distrustful and slightly emotionally damaged Agent 99, who is very good at her job and can't stand to be sent out with the rookie Smart but begrudgingly gains a certain respect for the man and his tenacity.

And finally I will say that when Max Smart figures out how to overcome his adversary in the end I laughed so hard that I had to check afterward to make sure that a little pee hadn't leaked out.

Rating: B