What Do The Critics Say?

"It has the old lines, and the funky props that fans remember. But it also has some decent new ideas, too. And thanks to Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, a bit of a new vibe." Steve Whitty NEWARK STAR-LEDGER "Carell draws laughs because he stays true to the character. He is self-deprecating as he throws himself into every gag." Sean Means SALT LAKE TRIBUNE "Get Smart is an example of getting the right actors and taking the right approach. It gave me one of the most fun times I've had at the movies all year." Mike McGranaghan AISLE SEAT "One of the more pleasant surprises of the year." Richard Roeper EBERT & ROEPER "The Producers got smart with Get Smart would you believe, and with good reason. They decided to give the audience what it wants. Yes, Maxwell Smart, goofy agent Most Unextraordinaire in the form of everyone's favourite Steve Carell, loaded with all his Get Smart-isms like 'missed it by that much', smart gadgets that need a smart operator to handle and double entendres that push corn and stupidity to great heights. It's all good fun and amiable entertainment in which you can leave your brain at the door and enjoy getting on Maxwell Smart's level." Louise Keller URBAN CINEFILE

"The people behind "Get Smart" got it right with this adaptation of the 1960s spy comedy that spoofed James Bond movies. Get Smart for the big screen: a feature length spy spoof with up-to-date gags, some thrilling stunts, and a top-notch cast." Daniel M Kimmel WORCESTER TELEGRAM & GAZETTE "Steve Carell is square-jawed-deadpan perfect as the title character." Donald Munro FRESNO BEE "The new Get Smart doesn't miss it by that much." Liam Lacey GLOBE & MAIL "Carell delivers the laughs." Sean O'Connell FILMCRITIC "A spunky and delightfully silly screen adaptation of the classic-cult television series." Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat SPIRITUALITY AND PRACTICE "By movie's end, we can imagine spending some more time with Agents 86 and 99, and liking it." Lisa Kennedy DENVER POST "Instead of the show's wacky, slapstick tone, Get Smart presents itself as an action-filled spy movie that just happens to be really funny. And for the most part, it succeeds." Tom Maurstad DALLAS MORNING NEWS "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." Roger Ebert CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

The Inside Story Director Peter Segal approached "Get Smart" as both a filmmaker and a fan. "This was an iconic show from the 1960s, a true classic and one of my favorites," he said. "I loved it. It was smart, irreverent and hilarious." So how do you go about making a feature film out of a series that ran for 138 episodes between 1965 to 1970, and was so funny that even today, it still raises a laugh? "We didn’t want to recreate it but to contemporize it to make it work for our time with a modern perspective and action sequences that aren’t only there to punctuate the laughs but are worthy of any thriller," Producer Charles Roven ("Batman Begins", "Bulletproof Monk" & "Three Kings") notes. "We wanted to bring this world of super-spies into a new era with the scale and scope it truly deserves on the big screen." Segal discovered that just imagining the familiar characters and some brand new ones in today’s headline-worthy situations sparked a thousand ideas and jokes, inspired by the same savvy humor that made the series; the brainchild of comedy mavericks Mel Brooks ("The Producers" 1968 & "The Producers" 2005) and Buck Henry ("Catch-22" & "The Graduate"), so memorable. "Our goal was to embrace the spirit of what Mel and Buck created and bring it to a new generation. The movie pays homage to the touchstones of the series; its irreverence, political satire and some of the catchphrases that are now part of our culture," says Segal, "but with a fresh story, a 2008 point of view and a style and energy all its own. The idea was to make a movie that offers as much to new viewers as longtime fans and, bottom line, to just make it funny as hell so it doesn’t matter if you know the history or not." Producer Alex Gartner ("Indecent Proposal" & "The Upside of Anger") credits Segal with "the ability to blend smart comedy [pun intended] with serious action, neither of which is easy and certainly not easily meshed, but it’s something at which Peter excels and why we wanted him to direct. There’s a lot of physical humor here, but played against a realistic backdrop." Having Steve Carell in the lead role provided a real bonus. "Steve Carell as Max was the most important part of the puzzle in putting this project together," Lazar notes. "His involvement triggered everything and his ideas about how to play the character informed the entire piece." "What first attracted me to the project was Steve," acknowledges Segal ("50 First Dates" & "Anger Management"), who committed on the strength of Carell’s casting even before seeing a script. "In my mind, there was no one else who could do justice to this role, and if you don’t have the right Max it’s not worth doing." "We were able to tailor the script to Steve’s immense comedic talent, which gave us free range to take it to places other people might not be able to go," says producer Michael Ewing ("The Longest Yard" & "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps"). "Together with screenwriters Tom Astle and Matt Ember, Peter and Steve worked on developing the character, as well as some of the plot points." To give the property its twentyfirst century launch, Segal and the producers decided first to take "Get Smart" back a step. Segal cites Roven's recent producing efforts with the 2005 hit "Batman Begins". "I liked the way that film reinvented the 'Batman' franchise by telling an origin story in a way that hadn’t been previously explored. With that in mind, we start from the beginning and show how Maxwell Smart came to be an agent, how he met 99, and his first encounter with KAOS villain Siegfried: all those elements already in place when the show aired." "From this point forward, he’s the Max many of us know and love, but this movie tells us how he got there. It’s a great introduction for new viewers and offers fans what they love and remember about their favorite secret agent," says screenwriter Tom J Astle ("Failure to Launch"). "In this aspect, as in all his comedies," notes Segal, "Steve brings a measure of humanity into play so that you genuinely feel for him. His Max is a man who sees this opportunity as his final shot, and that fuels a lot of his decisions and the subsequent action." "His secret fear, like that of many people, is that he may have missed his chance, that it’s just never going to happen for him," adds screenwriter Matt Ember ("The Drew Carey Show" & "Failure to Launch"). "Then circumstances catapult him into his fantasy career overnight. He gets a new lease on life." But there is a drawback. "Although Max has studied the agent's manual and passed all the tests, he’s never been in a situation where people are actually, well, shooting at him," Roven points out. There’s no easing in, no learning curve; he has to hit the ground running: Literally! Max is partnered, by default, with Agent 99, the only top Control operative whose identity was uncompromised by the recent breach. 2002 NBR Award winner Anne Hathaway ("Nicholas Nickleby") was cast as Agent 99. "99 is disappointed, to say the least, about working with a rookie, and everything he does in the first five minutes of their meeting only confirms her worst fears. So not only does Max have to prove himself to his boss, he has to prove himself worthy of working alongside this strong-willed woman who is obviously not going to take it easy on him." 2007 & 2008 Screen Actors Guild Award winner Steve Carell ("The Office"), who was cast as Smart notes" "Watching the show I always got the impression that Maxwell Smart was no fool. I saw him as a resourceful, capable guy who had principles he was willing to fight for. He didn’t always take the route others might have taken but still, even if it was counter-intuitive, he managed to come out on top." Carell begins from a different place than TV series star Don Adams. "Don was so distinctive, there was no realistic way to recreate his approach and his cadence, and I didn’t want to do an impersonation. Instead, I wanted to tap into the essence of the character and the show’s rich template and, without taking anything away from that, create something new and fresh in a way that honors the original but also stands on its own." "Get Smart" reunites Maxwell Smart with familiar key characters while introducing several new ones. "There’s fantastic interaction between the personalities that really blossoms because of the casting," notes Gartner. "You see the rapport and the rivalry between Max and 99, Siegfried and his assistant, and the almost paternal relationship between the Chief and Max." Hathaway’s portrayal presents Agent 99 as a confident, consummate professional, then takes it a logical step further. "She was a girl who could keep up with the boys," Hathaway offered. "Now, she just as often sets the pace. But she never sacrifices her femininity, which is another carryover from the series: that, and her Chanel obsession. She revels in being a woman who can run and fight in high heels, who makes no apologies for being a woman nor asks for special treatment." And how did she get the role? "I managed to hold it together five seconds longer than the other actresses who read with Steve. He is not easy to keep up with. But he taught me a lot about comedy and ad-libbing and he and Pete made me feel very protected from both sides of the camera." The filmmakers cast Dwayne Johnson ("The Scorpion KIng" & "Be Cool") in the newly created role of the invincible and impossibly charismatic Agent 23. "The great thing about Dwayne is that he has a tremendous action resume but he is also outrageously funny and has a great warm personality, all of which he brings to the part," says Roven. How does Johnson describe his character? "He’s simply the greatest agent on the planet, the star quarterback, the absolute best at what he does." Academy Award ® winner Alan Arkin ("Little Miss Sunshine") was cast as the Chief, the man who keeps the office bullies and everything else at Control in line. The 1967 Golden Laurel Male New Face Award winner sees his character much like "the principal of a high school in a difficult neighborhood. He’s earnest, under enormous pressure and often frustrated but is overall a good and effective boss. His genuine affection for Max notwithstanding, his allegiance to the agency comes first." Ewing ("Tommy Boy") notes: "The Chief has an active and formidable presence, someone who you can believe has been running this agency for thirty years and can still kick butt with the best of them." 1963 Golden Globe Most Promising Male Newcomer winner Terence Stamp was cast as the notorious KAOS arch-villain, Siegfried. "Terence’s delivery is so dry," says Segal. "He’s really convincing as someone who would be very comfortable with world domination." "It’s always a treat for me to play comedy," says Stamp, a late-comer to comedy who received the 2000 Golden Satellite Award for his role in one of my all-time favourite films "The Limey". "It’s something that has happened later in my film career, although I did comedies previously in the theatre. Pete liked the way I approached the Zod role in the "Superman" films so I aimed for that kind of laconic delivery with Siegfried." Siegfried's long-suffering assistant Shtarker (would gladly push his boss under a bus if he thought for a second he could get away with it), is played by Ken Davitian ("Borat" & "Holes"). The California-born actor originally read for another part before breaking into his natural voice and asking about the Shtarker role. "Of course, once he got the part I asked him to restore the accent because KAOS is an international, equal opportunity employer," says Segal. "He’s been waiting so long for an opening in the mailroom and it hasn’t happened," says Davitian. "Meanwhile, he has to do all of Siegfried’s dirty work: kill people, wash his car, whatever he wants. It’s a terrible job. I feel sorry for the guy." Synopsis

Newly promoted agent Maxwell Smart is sent on his most dangerous and important mission: to thwart the latest plot for world domination by the evil crime syndicate known as KAOS. It also happens to be his very first mission. When the headquarters of secret U.S. spy agency CONTROL is attacked and the identities of its agents compromised, the Chief has no choice but to promote his ever-eager analyst Maxwell Smart, who has always dreamt of working in the field alongside his idol, stalwart superstar Agent 23. Smart is partnered instead with the only other agent whose identity has not been compromised: the lovely-but-lethal veteran Agent 99. As Smart and 99 get closer to unraveling KAOS’ master plan, and each other, they discover that key KAOS operative Siegfried and his sidekick, Shtarker, are scheming to cash in with their network of terror. With no field experience and little time, With nothing but a few spy-tech gadgets and his unbridled enthusiasm, Max must defeat KAOS if he is to save the day.

The Verdict "Smart by name, "Get Smart" is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Steve Carell was astute enough to realize it was no good imitating Don Adams, and that is where the film really is smart. Sure they are all there in name, but none of the characters in this twenty first century re-imaging of the smash hit TV series, are old school. Yet, despite excellent performances from Carell and Hathaway, there are moments when you could image Don Adams and Barbara Feldon are back, large as life on the bigscreen. The storyline has something for all cinema fans: the bungling, the chemistry, the inventions, a bevy of bad guys, betrayal, laughs a plenty and, an action packed, stunt-packed final act. Let's hope there's a sequel. How does "Get Smart" rate? Would you believe me if I said it's a FIVE STAR film? No! How about 4 1/2 STARS then? No! Missed it by 'that' much. SOLID 4 STARS." Crew Bytes "GET SMART" was .......
directed by Peter Segal ["My Fellow Americans"]; supervising art director James Hegedus ["Rain Man", "Forrest Gump", "The Haunting" and "Monster House"]; costume design by Academy ® Award winner Deborah Lynn Scott ["Titanic", "Wild Widl West", "Bad Boys II", "The Upside of Anger" and "The Island"]; production design by Wynn Thomas ["A Beautiful Mind" and "Cinderella Man"]; edited by 2007 BAFTA Film Award winner Richard Pearson ["Welcome to the Jungle", "The Bourne Supremacy" and "United 93"]; director of photography Academy ® Award & THREE time AFI Award winner Dean Semler ["Razorback", "Dead Calm" and "Dances with Wolves"]; original music by SEVEN time BMI Film & TV Award winner Trevor Rabin ["Armageddon", "Remember the Titans" and "National Treasure"]. Who's Who?

Steve Carell Anne Hathaway Dwayne Johnson David Koechner Alan Arkin Masi Oka Nate Torrence Terence Stamp Ken Davitian Terry Crews David A. Parker John Farley Bill Murray Patrick Warburton James Caan David S Lee Geoff Pierson Dalip Singh Kelly Karbacz Arthur Darbinyan Bill Romanowski Mark Ivanir Lindsay Hollister Jane Gilchrist Bonnie Hellman

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Maxwell Smart Agent 99 Agent 23 Larabee The Chief Bruce Lloyd Siegfried Shtarker Agent 91 Agent 50 Agent 38 Agent 13 Hymie The President Ladislas Krstic Vice President Dalip Judy Russian Bad Guy Air Marshall Russian Guy in Bathroom Max's Dance Partner Bakery Counter Woman Karen

Run Time 110 minutes Rated PG [AUST] Copyright ©2008 - Warner Bros - All Rights Reserved ©2008 All Rights Reserved - The Movie Pages & Impact Internet Services - Protected by Australian, International, Copyright & Trademark Laws.