Don Adams and Barbara Feldon had a long run as secret agents for the fictitious government agency, Control, on TV in the 60's.  With Mel Brooks at the helm, it would have been hard to fail.  But Adams' grating, nasally voice and over-clumsiness only worked in that era.  It wouldn't entice a $10.00 ticket sale these days.  But never fear, the new Agent 86, Steve Carell, does a superb job of being intelligent and only a bit bumbling.  I could actually see the man Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) might fall for.  My rating:  $8.50 (1.-10.). 

The newest version of 'Get Smart' has Maxwell Smart (Carell) as a top-notch data analyst who yearns for field work.  He's taken the Field Agent test at least 3 times before finally passing.  He's also lost 150 pounds (kinda looked like the fat Ryan Reynolds in "Just Friends").  His daily data summaries tend to be over 300 pages and the info he gets from the data makes the craziest sense!  He's so good that the Chief (Alan Arkin) won't promote him to field agent. 

Anne Hathaway's Agent 99 is the experienced one--agile, smart, and beautiful.  Of course, her cover was blown in a bad office romance (she actually used to be a tall, blonde Scandinavian-type before plastic surgery).   When Chaos stages a hit and  run of the Control offices, all the field agents around the world have their identities outed.  That leeaves Smart and '99' as the only ones whose faces were unknown to Chaos.  Now, that's a believable premise for these two to team up.  I am happy to announce that Hathaway and Carell DO have screen chemistry perfect for a comic pairing. 

My favorite ex-wrestler, Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson has great comic timing as Agent 23, the playboy agent -- and rightly so in my book.  He struts off the elevator sending a kiss to the receptionist who plucks it from the air and deposits it into her cleavage!!  Then he walks into a wall -- great recovery, too.  He's given some good lines and a part in the final plot twist.

No expense was spared to bring a delightful cast to support the story.  Nate Torrence (Dylan on 'Sunset Strip - you'll recognize his face when you see it) and Masi Oka (Heroes) play Lloyd and Bruce- techno geeks who keep trying to trick the pompous agents with their electrical gadgets.  They like Max, though, and end up helping  him throughout the movie.  Terrence Stamp plays Siegfried, the overbearing bad guy with the absolute, best dry wit that he loves to use on his associate, Ken Davitian (Borat's Manager).  "You're the only person I know who can snore while awake."  HA!  Bill Murray plays an emotionally needy agent inside a tree.  James Caan is the President.  David Koechner (Todd Packer - 'The Office') and big, sensitive Terry Crews (Latrell in 'White Chicks') are partners who love to push people around and generally annoy people to death.  Koechner gets his head stabled a bunch for his trouble. 

Look for Dalip Singh, the 387 pound strong-arm for Chaos.  He's reminiscent of the metal-toothed guy in all those old 'Bond' movies.  You will never again see a man from India this big!!  He's really a WWF wrestler named, The Great Khali.  Without much acting experience, his body language tells it all!!

Some really funny stuff to watch for:  The ballroom dance with the large woman;  the lazer room and the rat; the cone of silence;  the big car chase with railway finale; anytime Terrence Stamp opens his mouth; the rooftop counseling session;  and many more. 

Don't know why I was surprised to see Mel Brooks as Exec Producer since he co-created the original characters with Buck Henry.  Brooks is King of physical comedy.  The script came from Tom Astle and Matt Ember.  Peter Segal directed.  It's rated PG-13 and runs about 1 hour 50 minutes without trailers.  We get a deeper, more human Maxwell Smart who deserves the beautiful Agent 99 this time around.  I wouldn't mind seeing this one again.   

Enjoy your movie weekend!!

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