Get Smart - Preview, US box office and reviews
Preview by Jack Foley
GET Smart, a remake of the classic television spy spoof series, has topped the American box office on its opening weekend (June 20-22, 2008) with an estimated $39.2 million.
The comedy, released by Warner Bros in the UK on August 22, stars Steve Carell, of TV’s The Office fame, as Maxwell Smart, an inept secret agent originated by Don Adams.
It co-stars Anne Hathaway in the Barbara Feldon role as his smart sidekick, Agent 99, as well as Terrence Stamp, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin.
The film picks up as Carell’s Maxwell Smart is put on a mission to thwart the latest plot for world domination by the evil crime syndicate known as KAOS.
When the headquarters of US spy agency Control is attacked and the identities of its agents compromised, the Chief (Arkin) has no choice but to promote Smart, his ever-eager analyst, who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside stalwart superstar Agent 23 (Johnson).
Smart is partnered instead with the lovely-but-lethal veteran Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway). Given little field experience and even less time, Smart – armed with nothing but a few spy-tech gadgets and his unbridled enthusiasm – must thwart the doomsday plans of KAOS head Siegfried (Stamp).
The strong opening figures marked yet another weekend in which the top film exceeded initial forecasts – Warner Bros had reportedly been predicting figures in the region of $30 to $35 million.
And they came despite a lukewarm response from critics, who were divided over its merits.
Among the more positive was the Miami Herald, which wrote: “It’s not going to redefine comedy as we know it, but it’s amusing and briskly paced, busy with an engaging mix of supporting actors.”
While Entertainment Weekly felt: “Written and directed with efficiency, cheer, and a refreshing lack of look-how-meta-clever-we-are egotism, the movie references just enough of the original touchstones and punchlines to please those who lived it the first time.”
The New York Post was also a fan, stating: “Would you believe the new version of the ’60s spy spoof Get Smart, starring Steve Carell, isn’t awful – like almost all TV-to-movie transfers – but instead, that it’s actually pretty funny (if overlong and overproduced)?”
And Rolling Stone declared: “No knockout, but Carell wins on a rock-solid technicality – he’s funny.”
Roger Ebert, of the Chicago Sun-Times, meanwhile, stated: “It’s funny, exciting, preposterous, great to look at, and made with the same level of technical expertise we’d expect from a new Bond movie itself. And all of that is very nice, but nicer still is the perfect pitch of the casting.”
Of the negative reviews, the San Francisco Chronicle wrote: “Remaking Get Smart for the big screen might have sounded like a bad idea, but the movie shows it to have been something else: a really bad idea.”
While The New York Times stated: “Get Smart is made up of feeble and funny jokes, brand actors and enough special effects to give you some bang for your summertime buck.”
And E! Online felt: “Despite its classic-TV pedigree, Get Smart is just another big, dumb summer movie and should have heeded its title’s advice.”
However, the film did at least perform much better than its main rival at the weekend box office, Mike Myers’ The Love Guru, which not only took a critical pounding, but also limped to No. 4 at the box office, with just $14 million.
Distributor Paramount Pictures confirmed this fell far short of the $20 million range forecast by Hollywood pundits.
In The Love Guru, Myers plays a Deepak Chopra-style New Age guru. It’s due to open in the UK in August.