Get Smart (film)

Get Smart
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Peter Segal
Written by	Tom J. Astle Matt Ember
Produced by	Alex Gartner Charles Roven Andrew Lazar
Starring	Steve Carell Anne Hathaway Dwayne Johnson Alan Arkin Terence Stamp James Caan
Edited by	Richard Pearson
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release dates	June 20, 2008
Running time	111 min.
Country	United States
Languages	English Russian
Budget	$80,000,000

Get Smart is a 2008 film adaptation of Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television show, Get Smart. The film stars Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99. Alan Arkin plays the Chief. Dwayne Johnson, Terence Stamp, Terry Crews, David Koechner, Masi Oka, Ken Davitian, and Dalip "The Great Khali" Singh also star. Bernie Kopell, who played Siegfried in the original series, makes a cameo.

Part of the film was shot on the McGill University campus in Montreal, Quebec. Other scenes were shot in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

Plot

Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell), an analyst employed by CONTROL, has always hoped to be promoted to a Field Operative. He is great at his desk job, but not very good in the field. Many laugh at his ambitions due to him being quite awkward, clumsy, and not very bright. Despite scoring extremely well on the Field Operative test, the Chief of CONTROL (Alan Arkin) decides not to promote him because he's such a good analyst, and the Chief would like him to remain as such. Meanwhile, Agent 23 (Dwayne Johnson) returns to CONTROL headquarters from a mission. He is the top agent in CONTROL and is also a good buddy of Max. Max walks out of H.Q. disappointed that he has not been promoted, and accidentally bumps into a lady jogging. He returns to H.Q. only to discover that enemy agents, sent by KAOS operative Siegfried (Terence Stamp), have penetrated CONTROL and have wreaked havoc on its interior. He finds the lady that he had bumped into was actually Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), who has returned after extensive plastic surgery. After learning that unknown assailants are coming their way, Max creates an awkward diversion, then clubs the Chief with a fire extinguisher while mistaking him for an enemy agent. The perpetrators have stolen CONTROL's Agent files, thus uncovering many of the field agent secret identities around the world and assassinating them.

Because of the unprecedented loss of agents, the Chief promotes Max to Field Operative and partners him with as-yet-unrecognizable Agent 99. They are to go undercover to find out who has been supplying nuclear weapons to KAOS. Meanwhile back at headquarters, most of the field agents are having a difficult time adjusting to working inside headquarters. Agent 91 (Terry Crews) and Larabee (David Koechner) are made fun of by analysts Bruce (Masi Oka) and Lloyd (Nate Torrence) for their inability to adjust. Max and 99 travel to Russia to take down the arms dealer who's in charge, and learn that a local Moscow bakery is actually a front for a nuclear weapons factory. Max goes in undercover to try and buy nuclear weapons from Siegfried. Siegfried, however, is well aware that Max is from CONTROL and that 99 is hiding in the air vents. Siegfried orders his number two man and brother-in-law, Schtarker (Ken Davitian), to kill Max, but Max easily incapacitates Schtarker and then proceeds to place charges around the factory to bury the warheads under the rubble and prevent KAOS from selling them. While trying to escape, Max and 99 run into Siegfried's giant bodyguard Dalip. After unsuccessfully trying to match with him physically, Max uses his knowledge of KAOS operatives to try and reason with him, which he does successfully. Afterward, the three escape the building which finally explodes. The Chief sends Agent 23 to overlook the clean-up of the factory, but 23 does not find evidence of nuclear weapons. Max is suspected of lying to CONTROL and being a double agent and is detained in a holding cell.

Meanwhile Siegfried makes a threat to blow up Los Angeles; and the Chief, Agent 99 and Agent 23 go to Los Angeles to persuade the President of the United States (James Caan) to do something about it as the Vice President ignores the threat. KAOS decides that since the Vice President does not believe KAOS's threat of nuclear terrorism, they will rig a nuclear bomb at a symphony concert to kill the President. Max escapes from the cell, after being given a coded message from Dalip about an attack via commercial radio broadcast, and locates the Chief to tell him of the bomb. The Chief trusts that Max is not a double agent and they set out to find the bomb in order to save the President and thousands of people there. The Secret Service claims that there is no bomb as they have checked the area before the President arrived. Max and the Chief try to figure out how to get into the concert when Agent 23 suggests that there is no bomb. This causes Max to suspect that Agent 23 has been a double agent all along. His suspicions are confirmed when his watch detects radioactivity coming from Agent 23.

Agent 23 finds out that his cover is blown and takes Agent 99 hostage before getting the briefcase that holds the remote detonator to the bomb. After an action packed chase, with Max almost killed and Agent 23 dead, the Chief, Agent 99 and Max figure out that the bomb is going to explode at the exact moment the piece "Ode to Joy" hits the last note. They make a mad dash to the concert hall, and Max pushes the conductor to the floor just before the musicians play the final note. The orchestra is cut to silence, and the audience applaud Max, the Chief, and the conductor for a marvelous performance.

As for Siegfried, he, Dalip and Schtarker escape in the car. Siegfried takes back attempting to kill Dalip's "lovely" wife. The next thing he knows, he's knocked out of his car, off the bridge the car was driving by, into deep water.

Bruce and Lloyd get their revenge on Agent 93 and Larabee when their newly created Android, Hymie, staples a paper to 93's head. The movie ends as Max and Agent 99 take the phone booth exit. when the various doors open to let them out one of the doors does not close. Agent 99 insists to Max that they are going to be late going somewhere (as they are now dating), Max tries to fix the door, but instead it slams on him, also causing his knife to shoot an arrow in his cheek, the movie then ends.

Cast

• Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart / Agent 86
• Anne Hathaway as Agent 99
• Alan Arkin as The Chief
• Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23
• Terence Stamp as Siegfried
• Bill Murray (cameo) as Agent 13
• David Koechner as Agent Larabee
• Terry Crews as Agent 91
• Masi Oka as Bruce
• Nate Torrence as Lloyd
• Ken Davitian as Shtarker
• Dalip Singh as Dalip
• Bernie Kopell (cameo) as Opel Driver
• James Caan as the President of the United States
• Blake Clark as General
• Kevin Nealon as Director of the C.I.A.
• Patrick Warburton as Hymie
• Cedric Yarbrough

Marketing

In addition to traditional television advertisement and movie trailers, Warner Bros has commissioned Pepsi to produce a flavor of Sierra Mist dubbed "Undercover Orange" to help promote the film. Warner Bros has also funded an online community called "Control Vs. Kaos" where visitors can participate in contests, 'missions', etc. A direct-to-DVD sequel, titled "Get Smarter" is also planned.

A 7:45 promotional clip, featuring an action sequence of Max and 99 parachuting from an airplane, has been released on iTunes as a free download.

Subway is holding a contest to give away a 1965 Sunbeam Tiger.

Critical reception

Get Smart opened with a total of $13,500,000 at the box office on June 20, 2008. On its opening weekend the film had grossed over 39 million, beating The Love Guru's 14 million. The film has received mixed reviews from critics and as of its opening day the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 50% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 103 reviews — with the consensus that the film "rides Steve Carell's considerable charm for a few laughs, but in the end is a rather ordinary Summer comedy." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 53 out of 100, based on 26 reviews. The film has an average score of 56.7% from 31 film critics, according to Movie Tab.

References to the original series

• During the opening credits, references to Mr. Big and the Claw are seen in the newspaper and Max's notes, respectively.

• In the "CONTROL museum," Max's Sunbeam Tiger is seen, as well as the portable Cone of Silence, Shoe Phone, and several other props from the series.

• The entrance to CONTROL has been updated, but the stairway, the red stripe down the center, the multiple doors and the phonebooth have not changed.

• Max and 99 fly on Yarmy International Airlines. Yarmy is Don Adams' actual last name.

• Bernie Kopell, who played Siegfried in the TV series, appears in an Opel GT – a car that also appeared in the original series – to yell at Maxwell (Steve Carrell)

External links

• Official site
• Get Smart at IMDb
• Get Smart at AllMovie
• Get Smart at Box Office Mojo
• Get Smart at Rotten Tomatoes
• Get Smart at Metacritic