"Get Smart"

[retsuko]

I thoroughly enjoyed "Get Smart" with one small exception which I will get out of the way here right away: when you have to resort to homophobia for laughs? Writers, you FAIL. Also, when your homophobia has to do with The RockDwayne Johnson kissing another guy, you MEGA-FAIL because The Rock Dwayne Johnson is pretty hot, and seeing him kiss just about *anyone* is awesomely sexy.

Other than that, the movie was pretty faithful the concepts and jokes of the original show, although they took a few liberties with characters that, for the most part, worked very well. Anne Hathaway was a worthy successor to Barbara Feldon--it was a real pleasure to see her play such a capable woman, resourceful and confident. Steve Carrell is intensely likable (at least, I find him so) and I liked him in this part--he took what Don Adams did, and made it his own role without dismissing the original character.

It occurs to me that I am writing about this movie way too seriously, but I loved this series as a kid--not only because it was forbidden TV that I could only see when I was babysitting, but also because it was well-written and everyone involved in its production seemed to be having such a good time. I got the same vibe from the movie, especially from Masi Oka and Alan Arkin.

This movie was also better than the movie I watched with yebisu9 last night, "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", which can be summarized in the following dialogue:
Brad Pitt: I am super hunky and attractive.
Angelina Jolie: I am almost inhumanly attractive as well.
(They are both assassins, but neither tells the other. They meet, have sparks, get married, and then things get bad because Angelina insists on having her way all the time--an uppity woman!)
BP: Oh, look at my six-pack abs. Why are we not having sex all the time?
AJ: Hey, I look great in a PVC corset. Why *are* we not having sex all the time?
(They're not. Then they discover the other's profession and try to kill each other. Then they have creepy sex after beating each other up. Then they bicker adorably, and realize they're better as an assassin team and work together, presumably saving their marriage. THE END.)

Give me "Get Smart" any day. Goofy humor trumps creepy sex for entertainment value.

Comments

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

I watched Get Smart as a kid, too, but it wasn't forbidden; my sisters and I watched the Nick at Nite reruns with our dad (our parents were permissive with regards to media. I'd say, "overly," but none of us seem to have taken noticeable harm from it). I'm glad you liked it--I'm planning to see it anyway, but some of the reviews my sis quoted at me were making me worry. I don't ask that it be great, just good enough to make me laugh!

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

It was forbidden TV because my parents 1) refused to get cable (and still refuse, to this very day!), and 2) didn't let me watch commercial TV except for Saturday morning cartoons until I was about 9 or 10. (For years, my favorite babysitter was my favorite because she let me watch "Diff'rent Stokes" with her! It was so exciting to me!) I would watch Nick at Night after putting the kids to bed and waiting for the parents to come home.

The movie was quite pleasantly diverting and there were a lot of silly one-liners. :)

[sub-divided.livejournal.com]

When I saw Mr. and Mrs Smith, my thought was "oh God, two terrible people whose good looks are their only redeeming feature, they deserve each other". Which I'm pretty sure was the point.

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

Yup, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. *snickers*

[digitalemur.livejournal.com]

Wait, Dwayne Johnson got to kiss a DUDE in this movie? Dude, I'm going tomorrow!

[retsuko.livejournal.com]

I warn you--it's really played for laughs and the audience around me responded with laughter and shrieking. That said, Steve Carell/Max and The Rock/Agent 23 do make a pretty cute OTP...