As I've done before, I begin a review of a TV show adaptation with the caveat about how much I knew the original television series. In the case of Get Smart, I'd only seen a few episodes here and there, but otherwise I don't know too much about it. And I now have the feeling the movie was trying to convince me I missed out on something beloved. I understood it included a lot of inside joke references to the show, and I got some of this on my own (e.g., I know the catch phrase, "Missed it by that much"), but after reading an article about the original series, I realize the film must've been laden with them. Even a cameo by a certain famous actor being stuck inside of a tree was an old joke.

Outside of that, Get Smart the movie doesn't seem to have much else going on. The premise is as simple as applying Mel Brooks-style humor (Brooks was a co-creator of the show) to the old '60s spy genre. The show featured a bumbling secret agent named Maxwell Smart, played by Don Adams, and his much more competent partner, Agent 99, portrayed by Barbara Feldon. Here, they are played by Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway, respectively, and they find themselves in a plot where their organization, CONTROL, must stop a bomb-related threat being instigated by their eternal terrorist-group nemesis, KAOS. The plot itself isn't special; its job involves holding up a string of gag set pieces that are, as it turns out, quite hit-and-miss.

Part of the problem comes from this kind of thing feeling a little overly familiar now. Not only is the movie attempting a mild rehash of the TV show, the whole thing actually started reminding me of The Naked Gun and Pink Panther movies. Some of the jokes are even recycled from such movies, no doubt because they were simply such reliable gags, the writers probably didn't even realize they were borrowing them. But even with borrowed or original jokes, execution is crucial, and here much of it is just plain sloppy. For example, there's a "Cone of Silence" bit (another reference to the show, apparently) that's simply awkward from beginning to end -- it made me wonder how much better it was delivered in the TV show.

The main characters themselves -- Max and Agent 99 -- and their relationship receive a rather disappointing  stock treatment that lacks creativity. Max is given the old underdog routine in which he's an analyst who dreams of being a field agent; his inner desperation and insecurity create a sort of pathetic quality to his mishaps, becoming a somewhat misguided attempt to elicit sympathy (even stranger are the flashbacks to his previously being overweight -- why throw that in?). It's not as funny as just being overconfident and lucky, which perhaps produces less immediate likability,  but a talented comedian will make that work for him -- and Carell could've been just the guy to pull it off. Instead, he looks a bit tied down here, and the problems with his Max and, say, Steve Martin's recent ultra-dopey Inspector Clouseau is that they don't get to play up the humorous parts of ugly traits, such as the ego of Peter Sellers's Clouseau and the blustery yet foundation-less determination of Leslie Nielsen's Frank Drebin.

Max and Agent 99 get partnered for the first time here, which leads rather routinely to 99's initial contempt of her green companion, only to find certain later-revealed sides of him endearing. That is to say, it's something of a romantic comedy relationship. Again, this kind of thing can be pulled off with a certain approach -- for instance, sophisticated wit -- but instead the delivery here is straightforward and plain. Sophisticated wit could've helped also with the supporting characters, who are mostly just silly, with the exception of Terence Stamp chewing it up with relish as the main villain, and Alan Arkin, who's likeable irascibility helped to deliver some of movie's bigger laughs for me.

Get Smart also mixes in a number of action set pieces which are included more for thrills than for comedy. The whole thing is rote and passable, offering little new in execution or observations; at least it isn't an ironic take on the series, for which we can be thankful, but neither does it say anything much about the time of the series inception versus its modern setting. Still, as far as rhythm goes, the movie does find its groove later rather than earlier, so at least it finishes stronger than it starts. Too bad it's hard to tell, after it's over, if it went anywhere. 

(Released by Warner Bros. Pictures and rated "PG-13" for some rude humor, action violence and language.)

Review also posted at www.windowtothemovies.com