Review of "Get Smart" by

Fans of TV's "Get Smart" are going to be disappointed by this movie. Steve Carell plays the bumbling spy Maxwell Smart ably enough, but he's given little to work with in this mediocre spoof. Set in our modern world, Smart is an errand boy intelligence analyst for The Chief of CONTROL (Alan Arkin) who tells him he's too good at his job to be promoted to Field Agent. But when the forces of evil attack CONTROL headquarters and kill most of the agents around the world, Smart is pressed into service. His teammate, the brainy, brawny Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway), is there to keep him out of trouble. The movie tries to recapture the spirit of the TV series, but never pulls it off. The Maxwell Smart cliches are awkwardly inserted into the dialogue and the plot is too thin to keep you interested in the outcome. The only good thing about this movie is that it spawned a decent sequel: "Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control" starring Masi Oka (Hiro from "Heroes") and Nate Torrence who are two junior scientists in CONTOL. Rent that or see it on Netflix, but skip this clunker.