That Smarts: Our Get Smart Review

Get Smart isn't as bad as you might expect. Thing is, that's not saying much of anything if you expected it to be as terrible as it looked.

Steve Carell does his best at being an ignoramus (only an ignoramus who's smart enough to be an analyst, natch), and he really is the perfect guy for the part. I mean, he can make some very bad dialogue ... less terrible.

Anne Hathaway, despite said terrible content, is more delightful than she's ever been. Before this, the most she's managed to bring to a comedy is a seriously intense level of apathy. Here she really shines, though, with some great comedic timing and the sort of perk Sandra Bullock used to have when she was younger, cuter, and funnier.

Alan Arkin and the Rock (er ... I mean serious actor Dwayne Johnson, of course) also do their best, as do the bit players (including Masi Oka), but if the movie's lacking substance, good acting can't provide too much of it.

And, let's be honest, Steve Carell has more than done the ignoramus/innocent character, from Produce Pete to The 40-Year-Old Virgin to Michael Scott on The Office. Maybe it's time he branched out.

But back to Get Smart: The basic storyline is that supposedly defunct CONTROL is still operating in secret, and KAOS is still out there being the bad guys. Maxwell Smart (Carrell) is a stellar analyst who really wants to be an agent. Trouble is, the chief (Arkin) can't let him go because there just aren't enough good analysts.

Fate turns, however, when the identities of the agents are compromised and Smart gets his chance, along with his new partner, Agent 99 (Hathaway). From there it's good guys vs. bad guys and has something to do with yellow cake (both "real" and "nuclear") and Russians.

There's also overkill in the way of making the movie political with a Bush-ish president (James Caan), who keeps on smacking us in the face with Bushisms. Which...can we please keep our non-political comedies non-political? Thank you.

Bottom line: It's not worth spending 10 bucks to see this one in the theater. Sure, it will make you laugh and it's chock-full of (ridiculous and completely unrealistic) action sequences, if that's your thing. But unless you are such a fan of Get Smart that you have your very own shoe phone and cone of silence at home, you can definitely wait and see this one in the comfort of your living room.

To see what summer blockbusters ARE worth your 10 bucks, check out out blockbuster breakdown!

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