Get Smart (film)

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
Written by
  • Tom J. Astle
  • Matt Ember
Based on Get Smart
by Mel Brooks
Buck Henry
Starring
Music by Trevor Rabin
Cinematography Dean Semler
Edited by Richard Pearson
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • June 20, 2008 (2008-06-20)
Running time
 110 minutes[1]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $80 million[2]
Box office $230.7 million[2][3]

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

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

Get Smart received mixed reviews from critics and it earned $230 million on a $80 million budget.[2][3]

Plot

Maxwell 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 due to his higher value as an analyst. When CONTROL headquarters is attacked by the terrorist organization KAOS, almost all of CONTROL's agents' identities are exposed, leaving only Agent 99 as a viable field operative. Maxwell is also promoted to field agent as Agent 86, but the experienced 99 is reluctant to partner with him because of his inexperience. On the first day of his job, Max receives a Swiss Army knife which includes special add-ons like a miniature flamethrower and a crossbow that shoots darts attached to spider web thread.

While on a plane, Agent 99 spots a threatening looking man in the back and says she thinks he's an assassin. Maxwell brushes it off as profiling and notices that he has a wad of gum stuck to the bottom of his shoe and attempts to scrape it off using a match. Passengers around him start to yell and panic, thinking he is trying to light his shoe, and that it must be a bomb. He is tackled by an Air Marshal and his hands are put into zip ties. Max requests to use the bathroom, and while inside attempts to break his zip ties using the crossbow on his pocketknife. He does finally break the zip tie, but one of the darts hits the "eject" button and leaves him plummeting towards the earth with no parachute.

Agent 99 goes to eject. She sees the dart and that there are still two parachutes there. She realizes what happened and quickly ejects to save Max. She grabs him, but the threatening man follows close behind. He slashes 99's chute with a large knife. Agent 99 does not panic, knowing she has a backup chute. She briefly lets go of Max to slash the man's chute. However, he grabs onto her and Maxwell and prevents her from being able to pull her parachute. She kisses him, and, shocked, he lets go. 99 pulls her parachute, and the man plummets through the roof of a farm. 99 and Max assume he is dead, but Agent 99 is irritated with Maxwell's incompetence.

The two arrive at the mansion of KAOS' chief bomb-maker, Ladislas Krstic. Maxwell accidentally inhales a tranquilizer that he meant to shoot at the guards. When he wakes up, he is in entirely new clothes, a disguise chosen by 99. They infiltrate the main office and trace nuclear material to a KAOS nuclear weapons factory disguised as a Moscow bakery. In the bakery, Maxwell meets with KAOS boss Siegfried and his second-in-command, Shtarker, only to learn that a double-agent has compromised their identities. Maxwell manages to escape and destroy the weapons factory, but he and Agent 99 are confronted by the same man that they had assumed dead earlier. All seems lost, but Maxwell manages to persuade Dalip to spare their lives. He does this by talking to Dalip about his crumbling relationship, realizing he knows all about the man after tracking him while he had been working as an analyst.

The Chief sends Agent 23 to observe the cleanup of the factory, but KAOS sneaks the weapons out through the Moskva River beforehand, leaving Agent 23 convinced that only a bakery had been destroyed. Realizing that Maxwell was alone during his key discoveries, CONTROL believes Max to be the double-agent. Agent 99, who has been gradually falling in love with Maxwell, 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. When his threats are not taken seriously, KAOS plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in Los Angeles. While Maxwell 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; arrives in Los Angeles to reunite with the Chief, Agent 99, and Agent 23; and convinces them that he is not the double-agent. When his Geiger counter-equipped watch picks up traces of radiation from Agent 23, they realize Agent 23 is the real double-agent.

23 takes 99 hostage and flees in a vehicle. After a chase, Maxwell manages to rescue Agent 99, but in the struggle, the car is set on fire and forced onto railroad tracks. Maxwell kisses Agent 23 to distract him, a trick learned from Agent 99. He and Agent 99 are thrown off the vehicle before it collides with a freight train, killing Agent 23. After analyzing Agent 23's nuclear football, Maxwell 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 Maxwell's honor, where Agent 99 gives him a puppy. Maxwell is afterwards given honors and gets his dream of becoming a real spy. While leaving, Max attempts to fix the jammed door, much to Agent 99's dismay, and ends up jammed between the sliding doors as a humorous ending shot.

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.TitleLength
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

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.[4] Warner Bros. has also funded an online community called "CONTROL vs. KAOS"[5] 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."[6] Metacritic gave the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[7]

The film received positive reviews from Roger Ebert[8] and Lisa Schwarzbaum from Entertainment Weekly.[9] 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".[10] Critic James Berardinelli also gave it a positive review.[11]

Negative responses came from Glenn Whipp of the Los Angeles 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."[12] 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."[13]

It also received negative reviews from Richard Schickel from Time[14] 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."[15]

Box office

Get Smart grossed $130.3 million domestically and $100.3 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $230.7 million.[16] 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.[17] The film was released in the United Kingdom on August 22, 2008, and opened on #3, behind Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Mamma Mia!.[18]

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.[19] Approximately 2,088,163 DVD units were sold, translating to revenue of $34,652,714 (Blu-ray sales/rentals not included).[20]

Sequels

DVD spin-off

A spin-off 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,[21] eleven days after the feature film's theatrical release.[22] 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).

Film sequel

On October 7, 2008, it was reported that Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow Pictures were producing a sequel. Carell, Hathaway, and Arkin were 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 was still very interested in eventually making a Get Smart sequel, but was willing to wait until a decent script was 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. ↑ "Get Smart (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. August 22, 2008. Retrieved March 12, 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Get Smart (2008)". Box Office Mojo.
  3. 1 2 "Get Smart (2008)". The Numbers. Retrieved 2013-12-29.
  4. ↑ BevReview.com » Blog Archive » Review: Sierra Mist Undercover Orange. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  5. ↑ CONTROL vs. KAOS Team Archived April 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  6. ↑ "Get Smart Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved May 20, 2010.
  7. ↑ "Get Smart Reviews, Ratings, Credits". Metacritic. Retrieved June 20, 2008.
  8. ↑ Roger Ebert. "Get Smart". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  9. ↑ Schwarzbaum, Lisa (July 4, 2008). Get Smart (2008). Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  10. ↑ Get Smart Review. Richard Roeper. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  11. ↑ Berardinelli, James (June 18, 2008). "Get Smart". ReelViews. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  12. ↑ LaSalle, Mick (June 20, 2008). "Movie review: Get rewrite on 'Get Smart'". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  13. ↑ Turan, Kenneth (June 20, 2008). "The wrong mission". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  14. ↑ Schickel, Richard (June 19, 2008). "Get Smart Got Lost". Time. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  15. ↑ 'Get Smart': Good Advice. Newsweek. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  16. ↑ Get Smart (2008). Box Office Mojo. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  17. ↑ "Get Smart (2008) - Weekend Box Office Results". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 23, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Weekend box office 22nd August 2008 - 24th August 2008". www.25thframe.co.uk. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  19. ↑ "Get Smart (R2/UK BD) in February". The Digital Fix. December 24, 2008. Retrieved March 1, 2008.
  20. ↑ "Get Smart - DVD Sales". The Numbers. Retrieved November 11, 2009.
  21. ↑ ASIN B0018O4SOQ, Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control (2008)
  22. ↑ "Get Smart" Sequel Already Planned. Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  23. ↑ Get Smart-2. /Film. Retrieved December 20, 2010.
  24. ↑ "Get Smart: Steve Carell to Return as Agent 86 in Movie Sequel". TV Series Finale. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2008.
  25. ↑ "Steve Carell Hopes for Get Smart 2". Virgin Media. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  26. ↑ "Steve Carell Has Scripted Get Smart 2 Himself, Tina Fey Is Scripting Another Comedy For Two of Them Bleeding Cool Comic Book, Movies and TV News and Rumors". Bleedingcool.com. July 8, 2010. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
  27. ↑ Caffeinated Clint. "Get Smart 2 was close to happening; Carell wrote 'very funny script'". moviehole.net.
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