Be Smarter

Let me start by saying I really wanted to like this movie. I mean, I love The Office, so naturally anything with Steve Carell is automatically on my must see list. I also was fortunate enough to see Alan Arkin at a lecture on the day the movie released. Unfortunately, I just couldn't love this movie to recommend it as anything more than a rental, and perhaps a red box rental at that.

I never really watched the show so I was starting off with no real knowledge of the characters. I thought that this would make me a lot less outraged than fans of the show that someone as young as Anne Hathaway was playing Agent 99. I think the age difference would not be as notable if there was better chemistry between the two characters. Their romantic tension is practically zilch so it seems unreasonable to go from loathing to lusting so quickly.

The rest of the cast is simply okay. Bronco fans may cheer (or jeer I suppose) at a brief appearance by Bill Romanowski. Dwayne "no longer The Rock" Johnson does what he does best --makes fun of his cheesy self. Masi Oka and Nate Torrence as Bruce and Lloyd, the techie guys at CONTROL earn a few laughs, but certainly not enough for their own movie expansion, though that is what they got with the release of "Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control" on DVD. Seems more like the publicity department at Warner Brothers are the ones out of control with the need to suck out all the money they can from this project.

Some of the stunts and props are fun and entertaining. Advancing beyond the shoe phone is a Swiss Army knife with more capabilities than an iphone, a skydive struggle with not enough parachutes, and exploding dental floss. The action sequences try to compete on the same level as other serious spy movies, but try to add humor. While this was achieved so well in movies like "Casino Royale," here it seems to make everything a bit muddled, and the humor wilts a bit because of it.

That is not to say that there were not moments throughout the film that had me laughing out loud. However, most of those times I found myself alone in my laughter. While the rest of the audience would laugh at the sillier missteps of Maxwell Smart, like those seen in the trailers, I found myself laughing more at Carell's deadpan deliverance, which makes him so great on The Office, and while delivered in a similar style, Carell is talented enough to not mix up Michael Scott and Maxwell Smart, despite their same initials and misguided intentions.

This is a movie to see if you have a couple of hours to kill, and those hours do not include children under 13. The film is PG-13 for a reason -- there are more than a few curse words that would make it a little cringe worthy for a parent. Which is too bad, as bathroom humor is part of the joke repartee, and who enjoys that more than an 8 year old? If you do, then rent this when it comes out.