Get Smart (film)

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Not to be confused with Get Hard.
Get Smart
Maxwell Smart, wearing suit and holding a gun, his tie blown to the side, covering the face of Agent 99 who is standing behind him wearing a white jacket.
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Peter Segal
Produced by Leonard B. Stern
Alex Gartner
Charles Roven
Andrew Lazar
Michael Ewing
Written by Tom J. Astle
Matt Ember
Based on Get Smart
by Mel Brooks
Buck Henry
Starring Steve Carell
Anne Hathaway
Dwayne Johnson
Alan Arkin
Terence Stamp
Terry Crews
David Koechner
James Caan
Music by Trevor Rabin
Cinematography Dean Semler
Edited by Richard Pearson
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates
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  • June 20, 2008 (2008-06-20)
Running time
 110 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $80 million
Box office $231 million[1][2]

Get Smart is a 2008 American adventure and action comedy film which was directed by Peter Segal, written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember and produced by Leonard B. Stern, who is also the original series' producer. The film is based on Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's 1960s spy parody television series of the same name.

The film stars Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson and Alan Arkin, and co-stars Terence Stamp, Terry Crews, David Koechner and James Caan. Bernie Kopell, who played Siegfried in the original series, also appeared in the film. The film centers on an analyst named Maxwell "Max" Smart (Carell) who dreams of becoming a real field agent and a better spy. The film was theatrically released on June 20, 2008 by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Get Smart received mixed reviews from critics and it earned $231 million[3][2] on a $80 million budget. Get Smart was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 4, 2008 by Warner Home Video.

Plot

Maxwell "Max" Smart, an analyst for the top secret American intelligence agency, CONTROL, yearns to become a field agent like his idol, Agent 23. Despite top scores in the acceptance tests, Max is denied the promotion because the Chief of CONTROL feels that Max is too valuable as an analyst. Max goes for a walk, looking at Fang, a puppy in the pet store. A woman bumps into him. When CONTROL headquarters is attacked by the terrorist organization KAOS, almost all of CONTROL's agents' identities are exposed, leaving only Agent 99, the woman Max bumped into as a viable field operative, while the others are demoted to desk jobs. Max is therefore promoted to field agent as Agent 86, but the experienced 99 is reluctant to partner with him because of his penchant for clumsiness.

On the plane, Max and 99 discuss their appearance changes, Max, a year ago was morbidly obese, and 99 was a blonde and is older than Max. Max is arrested after passengers believe he has a bomb (it's just chewing gum stuck to his shoe). During the attempt to parachute over a drop zone, Max opens the hatch prematurely, falling without a parachute. 99 attempts to save him, but Dalip, a KAOS agent almost foils their plan, had 99 not kissed him. The two infiltrate Krstic's mansion undercover as guests during a luxurious party, where they trace the nuclear material to a KAOS nuclear weapons factory disguised as a Moscow bakery, but when Krstic and his men corner them, Max is forced to shoot him. In the bakery, Max meets with KAOS boss Siegfried and his second-in-command, Shtarker, only to learn that a double-agent has compromised their identities.

Max manages to escape capture and destroy the weapons factory, but during their escape, Max and 99 are confronted by Dalip. Recognizing Dalip's voice from his many hours listening to audio surveillance, Max manages to persuade Dalip to spare their lives. The Chief sends 23 to observe the clean-up of the factory, but KAOS sneaks the weapons out through the Moskva River, with 23 reporting that only a bakery had been destroyed. Realizing that Max was alone during his key discoveries, CONTROL believes Max to be the double-agent. 99, who has been gradually falling in love with Max, is heartbroken but takes Max into custody.

Siegfried contacts the U.S. government and threatens to release nuclear weapon detonator codes to hostile countries unless he is paid a ransom of $200 billion, but the government does not take his threats seriously, despite the Chief's objections. In fact, he fights the vice-president to prove his point. To demonstrate they are serious, KAOS plans to plant a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. While Max is in a CONTROL holding cell, Dalip sends him a coded message via the radio show American Top 40 alerting him to Siegfried's plan. Max escapes and steals a car (a Sunbeam Tiger roadster, a car from the original TV series) but quickly runs out of gas. He manages to commandeer another car (a Volkswagen Karmann Ghia, also from the original TV series), then gets a ride on a fighter jet, arriving in Los Angeles to unite with the Chief, 99, and 23, who have flown out to persuade the President to take the KAOS threat seriously.

Max manages to convince 99 and the Chief that he is not the double-agent, and when his Geiger counter-equipped watch picks up traces of radiation from 23, they realize 23 is the real double-agent. 23 draws his gun, takes 99 hostage, and flees in a government-issue SUV. Max and the chief give chase in another government car, destroyed in a run through a golf course and into a store with a swordfish model, almost killing Chief, then a small plane, and Max manages to rescue 99, but in the struggle, the car is set on fire and forced onto railroad tracks. Max then kisses 23 to distract him, remembering 99's trick, but 99 and Max get caught in ropes. With Max wishing they had more time, he cuts 99 free, then himself, and the SUV collides with a freight train, killing Agent 23.

99 examines 23's destroyed football, she recalled Max's last words, wishing for more time, he appears and they embrace. After analyzing 23's nuclear football, Max realizes that the bomb will be triggered by the final note of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy". They rush to the Disney Hall, and Max tackles the elderly conductor just before the final note, saving the president and Los Angeles. Siegfried, despite his plan failing, is satisfied with Dalip's performance, and promises not to kill his wife in response, but insults her at the same time. In response, Dalip throws Siegfried into a river.

Back in CONTROL headquarters, a party is held in Max's honor, where 99 gives him Fang, the puppy in the pet store window earlier. A new "employee" is harassed by two other agents who had tormented Max previously, but the new employee turns out to be Hymie, a superhuman robot agent built by Max's techie friends at CONTROL, Lloyd and Bruce. Max is afterwards given honors and gets his dream of becoming a real spy with agent 99 as his girlfriend. While leaving, Max attempts to fix the jammed door, much to 99's dismay and crushing himself into the door frame.

Cast

Bernie Kopell, who played Siegfried in the original TV series, has a cameo as a motorist driving an Opel GT, a car featured in the TV series.

Soundtrack

Get Smart: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Soundtrack album by Trevor Rabin
Released June 17, 2008 (2008-06-17)
Genre Film score
Label Varèse Sarabande
Producer Trevor Rabin
Trevor Rabin chronology
National Treasure: Book of Secrets
(2007)National Treasure: Book of Secrets2007		 Get Smart
(2008)		 Race to Witch Mountain
(2008)Race to Witch Mountain2008

This film's score was composed by Trevor Rabin who had previously scored films such as Armageddon, Enemy of the State and Deep Blue Sea.

Track listing

All music composed by Trevor Rabin.

No. Title Length
1. "Smart Dreams"   1:52
2. "Get Smart Theme"   1:28
3. "Cake Factory"   3:00
4. "Theme (Look One)"   1:48
5. "Max Denied"   2:29
6. "Max Takes a Bow"   0:54
7. "Dropping Like Flies"   0:07
8. "Theme (Look Two)"   2:15
9. "Agent 23"   0:34
10. "Max Ejects"   1:53
11. "Skydiving"   2:01
12. "Laser Hallway"   4:04
13. "Entering Moscow"   1:22
14. "Rooftop Fight"   3:07
15. "Max Calls 99"   5:01
16. "Theme (Look Three)"   1:13
17. "The Big Chase"   4:58
18. "Wish We Had More Time"   1:46
19. "Smart Exit"   0:56
20. "Theme (Look Four)"   1:17

Marketing

A corresponding film, Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control (featuring Oka, Torrence, Miller, Warburton, Crews and a cameo by Hathaway reprising their roles), was released on DVD on July 1, 2008,[4] 11 days after the feature film's theatrical release.[5][6] The film tells a standalone story that takes place concurrently with the events within the film (including a scene in which Agent 99 calls Lloyd and angrily berates him for the poor quality of her gadgets compared to Max's; that scene takes place immediately after Max accidentally renders himself unconscious with a blowgun during a stakeout in the main film).

In addition to traditional television advertisement and movie trailers, Warner Bros. commissioned Pepsi to produce a flavor of Sierra Mist soft drink dubbed "Undercover Orange" to help promote the film.[7] Warner Bros. has also funded an online community called "CONTROL Vs. KAOS"[8] where visitors can participate in contests and "missions."

In Latin America, Get Smart was shown in a Spanish language dubbed version, produced in Mexico. The theatrical posters had a sticker that highlighted the return of Jorge "El Tata" Arvizu, a highly regarded Mexican actor who was returning to the character after a 13-year hiatus, having dubbed Don Adams in the 1960s TV series and again in the short-lived 1990s Get Smart TV series starring Andy Dick.

Reception

Critical response

Get Smart received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 51%, based on 215 reviews, with the site's critical consensus reading, "Get Smart rides Steve Carell's considerable charm for a few laughs, but in the end is a rather ordinary Summer comedy."[9] Metacritic gave the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]

The film received positive reviews from Roger Ebert[11] and Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly.[12] Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times also gave the film a thumbs up, saying that it was "one of the more pleasant surprises of the year".[13] Critic James Berardinelli also gave it a positive review.[14]

Negative responses came from Glenn Whipp of LA Daily News calling it "staggeringly bad" and Mick LaSalle of the San Francisco Chronicle stating that "It couldn't buy a laugh in a nitrous oxide factory with a fistful of clown noses."[15] Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times said "it neglects the laughs and amps up the action, resulting in a not very funny comedy joined at the hip to a not very exciting spy movie."[16]

It also received negative reviews from Richard Schickel from Time[17] and David Ansen from Newsweek, with the latter stating, "it's not Maxwell who's clueless, but the filmmakers ... Director (Pete) Segal ... is a comedy specialist lacking any apparent sense of humor."[18]

Box office

Get Smart grossed $130.3 million domestically and $100.3 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $230.7 million.[19] In its opening weekend, the film grossed $38.6 million in 3,911 theaters in the United States and Canada, ranking #1 at the box office and averaging $9,891 per venue.[20]

Home media

Get Smart was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 4, 2008 by Warner Home Video. Two versions of the film were released: the theatrical version and an enhanced version that allows viewers to view alternate takes and deleted scenes placed within the context of the film.

The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2009.[21] Approximately 2,088,163 DVD units were sold, translating to revenue of $34,652,714 (Blu-ray sales/rentals not included).[22]

Sequel

On October 7, 2008, it was reported that Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures were producing a sequel. Carell, Hathaway, and Arkin are set to return, but the status of other cast members had yet to be announced.[23][24] In July 2010, Steve Carell stated that he had recently been given a potential script for the sequel to Get Smart, but had passed on it. He said that he is still very interested in eventually making a Get Smart sequel, but is willing to wait until a decent script is developed.[25]

"I took a pass at Get Smart 2, wrote a completely new story and we'll see what happens with that somewhere down the line perhaps... Anne Hathaway is definitely in and Alan Arkin, so at some point... we don't have any projected date and the script still needs some tweaking and some rewriting."[26]

During 2013, Carell stated that it was unlikely that there really would be a sequel. In December 2013, however, Peter Segal claimed a Get Smart 2 had been close to being made, with the "funny script" written by Carell himself.[27]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ ASIN B0018O4SOQ, Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control (2008)
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ "Get Smart" Sequel Already Planned. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  7. ↑ BevReview.com » Blog Archive » Review: Sierra Mist Undercover Orange. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  8. ↑ CONTROL vs. KAOS Team. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (July 4, 2008). Get Smart (2008). Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  13. ↑ Get Smart Review. Richard Roeper. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ 'Get Smart': Good Advice. Newsweek. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  19. ↑ Get Smart (2008). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Get Smart-2. /Film. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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