Missed it by THAT much

The above line perfectly encapsulates Peter Segal's recent modernizing of the Mel Brooks and Buck Henry collaboration Get Smart. I liked Get Smart but I wanted to love it. The film pitches itself too broad, too mainstream. It does physical comedy well, even very well at times, but the editing often feels disjointed. The film zings in its character humor but I would've enjoyed more satire on the interplay of intelligence agencies rather than vomit or nut-shot jokes. Also missing is the rat-tat-tat of Borscht Belt style humor that only picks up every once in a while like when Steve Carrell's Maxwell Smart gives the alias of Nudnik Shpilkes.

Mind you for my qualms about the over-reliance on physical comedy are undone when that physical stuff focuses solely on Carrell. Carrell is a deft physical comedian, he manages to spin laughs out of something as simple as slowly moving his eyes while at a urinal. Carrell though is hardly the films only asset. The film utilizes it's ensemble very well (way better than Indiana Jones and the Old People Standing Around) everyone gets a chance to shine which is fitting given that one of the themes that seems to be running through the film is that every person has value. Alan Arkin will no doubt make Peter and Frank stand up and cheer when he sails a cross a boardroom to beat up the petulant vice-president. He also has a line at the end that is absolutely killer. Anne Hathaway gives just enough fun, slink and eventually warms into something resembling the incarnation of Barbra Feldon's Agent 99. Dwayne Johnson is fun as super Agent 23, though I wish given the twist about his character he had even more to do. In addition to these core four there is a never-ending parade of comic ringers who all get some good moments. Ken Davitian redeems himself for Meet the Spartans as the sidekick of the slick Sigfried. As for my favorite cameo? It's a two way tie between the shocking appearance of Agent 13 (played by a certain Wes Anderson and Jim Jarmusch regular) who is pretty sad about being stuck in a tree and then Patrick Warburton RULING COMPLETELY in an all too-brief appearance as a Brock Sampson-esque Hymie the Robot.
If there is one scene that perfectly encapsulates what works about the film it is a scene at about the film's midpoint that features Hathaway and Carrell competing on the dance-floor. She's with a Russian arms dealer and he is with a significantly larger female dance partner (Lindsay Hollister, who was actually at my screening at the Sherman Oaks Arc Light, I KNOW). A lesser film would make Max's partner weight the object of the joke. Instead it becomes a matter of which partnership can dance more impressively and we're on Hollister and Carrell's side. It's sweet and underlines an ongoing theme of rooting for the under-dog that the film has a penchant for.
In the end Get Smart is a good natured, solidly funny but not a classic. It rather smartly plays it's action straight so when Carrell does gun down a baddy or Alan Arkin heroically pilots a bi-plane, you can't help but chuckle. If the characters were constantly winking at the audience it would get pretty tedious pretty fast. Get Smart works more than it doesn't and that is enough for me.

You don't have to be an A student to be an A-List Star Part 2: The Women

Hey remember when I tried this a week ago? Well sadly Stan Winston died, which is a colossal bummer and then I saw what felt like four movies in a row and they all needed/need to be reviewed AND then Cyd Charisse died (a short show don't tell piece will be coming for her soon). But I don't want to be one of those web guys that eaves a project (however trivial) unfinished. So without further ado (there has been far too much ado lately):
Amy Adams- Let's see, gorgeous, talented, great taste in projects, no longer allowed to be talked about in front of my girlfriend (for an extended period of time). She should also be addressing her squeaky clean cutesy poo resume with the dark indie comedy Sunshine Cleaning and the dramatic heavy hitter Doubt with no less than PSH and La Streep. Then it's back to cute lovable Amy for a turn as Amelia Earheart (PERFECT CASTING!) in (shudder) Night at the Museum 2 and then the cooking comedy Julie and Julia (again with Streep, way to pick a role model).
Is she A-List material yet?: A+++++(see me after class :))
Ellen Page-Honest to blog the real deal, she has a good reputation for picking clever material, I have no doubt whatever success Smart People had was from the bump of showing her off in the advertising. For all the ridiculous ire leveled against the film, Juno is really popular for a reason and Page has a real talent for grounding scripts ina real, emotionally honest world. She also took part in three of my favorite SNL skits this year. Her projects choices continue to be as quirky as she is, she'll be directed by Drew Barrymore (really?) in the roller derby comedy Whip It (alongside Zoe Bell, maybe), then a rural drama about a train accident, Peacock. Then a major costume drama, Jane Eyre. I'm sure she always has a place with the X-Men too, though she'd be crazy to go back there.
Is she A-List material yet?: To anyone who saw Juno yes, she's yet to connect with the mainstream the way Adams has though.
Katherine Heigl-Ugh, this bitch on wheels is so hot right now, though it can probably be attributed to all the bridges she's burning in her wake. Calling the movie that made you a star "dumb and sexist." DICK MOVE! Especially when you turn around and star in a treacly stereotypical romantic comedy that offers not one new thing to the genre. Then she withdraws her emmy nomination in the most condescending way possible insulting Grey's Anatomy's writers and producers. She's pretty and likable and can deliver drama and comedy well but her personal life attitude is starting to bleed over into the public's perception of her. She seems content sticking in romantic comedy along with King Leonidas in the upcoming Ugly Truth.
Is she A-List material yet?: She's super recognizable cause of her TV gig but methinks the lady doth protest too much and is on the road to a serious Carusso-ing.
Anne Hathaway-Well I've heard from a reliable source that she's not so cool in real life. Which is a bummer cause before A-Dubs came along she had the market cornered in sweet, bubbly and princess-y. She also once did a stage show with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Doug Sills which makes me kind of super jealous of her (and yes Frank also makes me super gay). Regardless of stuff I've heard (Ugh I feel so dirty bad mouthing her based on conjencture, is though how it feels like to be a Fox News person all the time?) Hathaway seems to be on her way out f the profitable but not particularly critic friendly young adult ghetto. I have heard good things about her turn in Get Smart. She apparently does vixen very well, plus being able to compete for screen presence with some of her co-stars in that movie is no simple task. I mean seriously, I defy anyone to make me able to look away from a scene that involves David Koechner. I'm completely serious.
Is she A-List material yet?: For twelve and under girls, certainly, but two or three more big films should do it for grown-ups.

Yeah, that was fun albeit prolonged and got kind of lame at the end (kind of like the Pirates movies). Coming up: a tribute to the late great Cyd Charisse, a quick check in to the Israeli film festival, an explanation of why seeing Get Smart will be bitter-sweet, Friday links and should all go according to plan a Get Smart review.