REVIEW: Get Smart

So I'll put it right out there: I didn't expect Get Smart to be any good. While I'm a fan of Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, I was a bit weary of little ol' Steve since his not-so-smart venture into Evan Almighty, the un-funny sequel to the hilarious Bruce Almighty.

But I digress. Now, while I've never seen an episode of the television show, my ~~sources~~ parents tell me that it was funny, so I was actually VERY surprised with the turnout of Get Smart, and couldn't stop myself from laughing throughout the entire film.

Steve plays Maxwell Smart, a man so desperate to be an agent, his antics to achieve that goal leave you wondering why on Earth you'd want him to protect you. Steve certainly made the character his own, delivering his lines in a sarcastic, yet somewhat monotone voice that could only be Steve Carell. But almost too quickly into the film, Marqwll is give the position of Agent 87 and is immediately sent on a mission alongside Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway).

Anne, who somewhat resembles Barbara Feldon, the original Agent 99, has great chemistry with Steve, which, I admit, I did find a bit icky at first. However, I found myself to be too enthralled in the film to even worry about the ick factor, and actually liked the presence of Steve and Anne on screen together.

While the film throws a few twists and turns at the audience here and there, some of the jokes were a bit overused. Take for instance Maxwell being locked in an airplane bathroom trying to free his tied wrists with a gadget, only to be poked in the face, feet and neck numerous times. Funny at first, but after the tenth time, it's really time to move on.

What made this a good film, though, weren't just the acting abilities of Steve and Anne, but also the supporting cast. The film features Alan Arkin as The Chief, Dwayne Johnson as Agent 23, as well as Masi Oka (Heroes) - who is rather funny as a co-worker at the U.S. spy agency Control - and an in-tree cameo by Bill Murray as Agent 13. (No, in-tree is not some high tech movie term; he was literally inside a tree.)

Get Smart has funny, pithy dialogue and is a family friendly film. Providing enough laughs to entertain the kids and enough witty, albeit more adultjokes to entertain the 'rents, the movie should do fairly well at the box office.

The only negative is that it will be released against the Mike Myers film The Love Guru. But based on trailers on TV, Get Smart looks like it would be your smartest choice.