Hollywood hues
Not so smart

Ervell E. Menezes finds Get Smart just another American pot-boiler obsessed with the erstwhile Soviet Union

Espionage continues to be a popular theme with Hollywood and even though Russia is no longer the Soviet Union and a rival for the Americans they just cannot let go of their arch-rival for decades. But the new angle in Get Smart, however, is sending an analyst into the field so he has a chance to blunder his way about and gives it a spoofing flavour. The title is adapted to a violent 1971 film Get Carter in which the hero Carter, played by Michael Caine, sets out on a killing spree. This is how Hollywood regurgitates its earlier films and titles.

Slow-learner Maxwell Smart (Steve Carell) is the one promoted and on a mission to thwart the latest plot for world domination by a crime syndicate known as K.A.O.S. This happens when the US spy agency control is attacked and its chief (Alan Arkin) decides to give Smart a break as the identities of the agents are being compromised.

Smart has always dreamed of being a James Bond so he grabs the opportunity with both hands. And when he has comely Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) as his partner, it is doubly welcome. But it takes some time for him to learn the ropes. But basically scriptwriters Tom Astle and Matt Ember are not sure whether they should come out with a comedy or a thriller and hence they fall between two stools.

Director Peter Segal shuttles from humour to action and though our hero Steve Carell has a yen for the comic and there are some good gags. The over doze of action, coupled with razzle-dazzle special effects, has a dulling influence. Anne Hathaway, who was so impressive as Meryl Streep’s assistant in The Devil Wears Prada, does well as a seasoned secret agent apart from grudgingly providing the romantic flavour.

The action, of course, shuttles from the United States to Russia and the little towns are fetchingly captured by cinematographer Dean Semler but that hardly compensates for the inordinate length — all of 120 minutes. Oldies like Terrence Stamp and James Caan are given small cameos but there is no real issue at stake. Neither is there any cumulative build up. So the film chugs on lazily.

That Smart has shed a good deal of weight is supposed to add to the character but hardly does. Steve Carell who did a good job in Dan in Real Life picks up from where he left there and closely resembles retired Australian spinner Brad Hogg. Probably inspired by Peter Sellers (the characters are created by Mel Brooks, not everyone’s cup of tea, and Buck Henry), Smart stumbles his way about quite predictably. For all the special effects, the fare is likely to lull one to sleep. There is nothing smart or exciting about it. Just another Hollywood pot-boiler obsessed with the now extinct Soviet Union.

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