Granted, I went into this thing expecting the worst. This is pure Hollywood fluff. Its the cinematic equivalent of a Twinkie. I have to say, it wasn't awful. I actually can recommend it and no one is more surprised than me.

This obviously isn't a great film but it does work on many levels. The success primarily falls on the casting of Steve Carell as bumbling Agent Maxwell Smart. Carell conjures up a sympathetic charm that is fun to watch. This charm can be seen in other films like Evan Almighty and Dan in Real Life. Unlike those film, this outing gives him strong, albeit very simple, setups and payoffs to to display his talents. The rest of the cast Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Terrance Stamp and Alan Arkin likewise do well in their supporting roles and add to the production. The only trouble spot is Anne Hathaway as Agent 99. Hathaway doesn't have the comedic timing, or at least its not as acute as her fellow cast members. This difference sticks out and she comes across as flat. Luckily, her character is the straight-man so her delivery is passable.

The script penned by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember (Failure to Launch) has a number of genuine laughs. Even if it only had one that would be one more than I was expecting. While they stumble around in the middle trying to find their footing, due to a lack of a urgent central conflict, the pair manage to find good humor in most of their scenes. They also do well establishing their secondary characters quickly, giving them easily identifiable traits and then pitting those traits against one another.

Taking this film for what it is, mindless comfort cinema/mindless corporate rehashing of long dead product lines, this is well done. This is a good fall back pick if you're not that discerning of a moviegoer.



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Labels: Alan Arkin, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, film, movie review, Steve Carell