''Get Smart'' is a 2008 American spy action comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember and produced by Leonard B. Stern, who was also the producer of the original series. The film is based on

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

and

Buck Henry Buck Henry (born Henry Zuckerman; December 9, 1930 – January 8, 2020) was an American actor, screenwriter, and director. Henry's contributions to film included his work as a co-writer for Mike Nichols's ''The Graduate'' (1967) for which he re ...

's television series of the same name. The film stars Steve Carell,

Anne Hathaway Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. List of awards and nominations received by Anne Hathaway, Her accolades include an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Primetime ...

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

, and Alan Arkin, with

Terence Stamp Terence Henry Stamp (born 22 July 1938) is an English actor. Known for his sophisticated villain roles, he was named by ''Empire (magazine), Empire'' as one of the 100 Sexiest Film Stars of All Time in 1995. He has received various accolades in ...

and James Caan in supporting roles.

Bernie Kopell Bernard Morton Kopell (born June 21, 1933) is an American character actor known for his roles as Siegfried in ''Get Smart'' from 1966 to 1969 and as Dr. Adam Bricker ("Doc") on ''The Love Boat'' from 1977 to 1986. Early life Kopell was born in B ...

, who played Siegfried in the original series, also appeared in the film. The film centers on an analyst named Maxwell Smart (Carell) who dreams of becoming a real field agent and a better spy. The film was released in North America on June 20, 2008. ''Get Smart'' received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, earning $230 million on an $80 million budget.

Plot

Maxwell Smart, an analyst for CONTROL, a top secret American intelligence agency, yearns to become a field agent, but is blocked by the Chief, who values his analytical skills. After their headquarters is bombed by the

terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of violence against non-combatants to achieve political or ideological aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violence during peacetime or in the context of war aga ...

organization KAOS, who also obtain the identities of CONTROL's agents, Smart is promoted to Agent 86 and is paired with Agent 99, who is unknown to KAOS after undergoing plastic surgery and doubts his competence. Max traces the suspects to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, but while on a commercial flight going there, he is arrested by the Air Marshal after he mistakes his attempts to clean his shoe for a bomb attempt. Detained in the bathroom, he manages to break his ties with a specialized Swiss Army knife containing a mini-crossbow. However, one of the darts hits the "eject" button, sending Max plummeting to earth. Agent 99 jumps after him with a parachute and retrieves him, but is followed by a KAOS assassin, whom she distracts with a kiss, enabling her to activate the parachute while the assassin crashes into a barn. Arriving at KAOS' chief bomb-maker Ladislas Krstic's mansion during a party, Max and 99 infiltrate his office and trace nuclear material to a KAOS nuclear weapons factory disguised as a bakery in Moscow. They are caught by Krstic and his men, but manage to eliminate them before escaping. At the bakery, Max meets with KAOS boss Siegfried and his second-in-command, Shtarker, both of whom expose him and 99. Smart manages to escape and destroys the factory, but he and Agent 99 are confronted by the assassin from the plane. Smart recognizes him as Dalip from his research and counsels him on his failing marriage, prompting Dalip to let them go. Agent 23 is sent to observe the factory cleanup, but fails to find evidence as KAOS had snuck the weapons out beforehand. As Smart was alone during his key discoveries, CONTROL believes he is a

double agent In the field of counterintelligence, a double agent is an employee of a secret intelligence service for one country, whose primary purpose is to spy on a target organization of another country, but who is now spying on their own country's organi ...

. Agent 99, who has developed feelings for Smart, takes him into custody, just when he suspects that she is the double agent. Siegfried reveals to Shtarker that he plans to detonate a nuclear bomb in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

while the

President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

is there. Siegfried contacts the U.S. government and threatens to release nuclear weapon detonator codes to hostile countries unless given $200 billion. However, he is ignored by everyone except the Chief. Detained in a CONTROL holding cell, Max receives a coded warning from Dalip via ''

American Top 40 ''American Top 40'' (abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally radio syndication, syndicated, independent song countdown radio programming, radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs (broadcaster), Ron Jaco ...

'', alerting him to Siegfried's plan. He escapes and arrives in Los Angeles to reunite with the Chief and Agents 99 and 23, convincing them he is not the double agent. As the President arrives at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, Siegfried, Shtarker and Dalip plant the bomb there. Agent 23 is revealed to be the real double agent after Max's Geiger counter-equipped watch picks up traces of radiation on him. Agent 23 takes 99 hostage and flees. After a chase, Max rescues her, but in the struggle, the car is set on fire and forced onto railroad tracks. Max kisses Agent 23 to distract him. Both he and 99 are thrown off the vehicle before it collides with a freight train, killing Agent 23. Analyzing Agent 23's nuclear football, Max realizes the final note of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's " Ode to Joy" will trigger the bomb. Rushing to the concert hall, Smart tackles the conductor just before the final note, saving everyone. Siegfried, dismayed after realizing his plan has failed, insults Dalip’s wife and is thrown off by Dalip into a river, to Shtarker's delight. Max is formally inducted as a spy and is honored at CONTROL headquarters, with Agent 99 giving him a puppy. Upon leaving, Max attempts to fix a jammed door but gets stuck between the sliding doors and shrieks in pain after being struck by a dart again.

Cast

* Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart *

as Agent 99 *

as Agent 23 * Alan Arkin as The Chief *

as Siegfried *

Terry Crews Terry Alan Crews (born July 30, 1968) is an American actor, television host, and former professional American football, football player. He played Julius Rock in the UPN/The CW Television Network, CW sitcom ''Everybody Hates Chris'', which air ...

as Agent 91 * David Koechner as Larabee * James Caan as The President * Masi Oka as Bruce * Nate Torrence as Lloyd * Ken Davitian as Shtarker * David S. Lee as Ladislas Krstic * Dalip Singh as Dalip * Geoff Pierson as Vice President *

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian, known for his deadpan delivery in roles ranging from studio comedies to independent dramas. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Bill Murra ...

as Agent 13 *

Patrick Warburton Patrick Warburton (born November 14, 1964) is an American actor. His live action TV roles include David Puddy on ''Seinfeld'', the Tick (character), title character on ''The Tick (2001 TV series), The Tick'', Jeb Denton on ''Less than Perfect'' ...

as Hymie * John Farley as Agent 38 * Larry Miller as CIA Agent *

Kevin Nealon Kevin Nealon (; born November 18, 1953) is an American comedian and actor. He has earned a Primetime Emmy Award nomination and two Screen Actors Guild Award nominations. He first gained widespread attention during his tenure as a cast member on ...

as CIA Agent *

Blake Clark Blake Clark is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He is best known as Chet Hunter on '' Boy Meets World'' and Harry Turner on '' Home Improvement''. Clark has voiced Slinky Dog in the ''Toy Story'' franchise starting with 2008's '' Toy Sto ...

as General * Cedric Yarbrough as Tate * Danielle Bisutti as Airline Passenger * Stephen Dunham as Secret Service Commander

, who played Siegfried in the original TV series, has a cameo as a motorist. Ryan Seacrest made a voice cameo as himself, hosting ''

''.

Production

Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures owned the rights to the television series of the same name, with Peter Segal attached as a director, after directing three of

Adam Sandler Adam Richard Sandler (born September 9, 1966) is an American actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. Primarily a comedic leading actor in films, List of awards and nominations received by Adam Sandler, his accolades include an Independent Sp ...

's films. Prior to Segal's involvement, the project was in development for years with Jim Carrey,

Martin Lawrence Martin Fitzgerald LawrenceStated in interview on '' Inside the Actors Studio'' (born April 16, 1965) is an American actor and comedian. Lawrence began his career doing comedy shows, including in '' The Improv''. After his first acting role in t ...

, and Will Ferrell attached at one point or another. According to Segal, he stated in an interview with AMC that he loved the show as a kid. Steve Carell was cast as the main character, Maxwell Smart and

was cast as Agent 99.

Soundtrack

This film's score was composed by former Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin, who had previously scored films such as '' Armageddon'', '' Enemy of the State'' and '' Deep Blue Sea''. Varèse Sarabande released a soundtrack album of the score.

Track listing

Marketing

In addition to traditional

television advertisement A television advertisement (also called a commercial, spot, break, advert, or ad) is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization. It conveys a message promoting, and aiming to market, a product, service or idea. ...

and movie trailers,

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

commissioned

Pepsi Pepsi is a Carbonated water, carbonated soft drink with a cola flavor, manufactured by PepsiCo which serves as its flagship product. In 2023, Pepsi was the second most valuable soft drink brand worldwide behind Coca-Cola; the two share a long ...

to produce a flavor of Sierra Mist soft drink dubbed "Undercover Orange" to help promote the film. In Latin America, ''Get Smart'' was shown in a Spanish language dubbed version, produced in Mexico. The theatrical posters had a sticker that highlighted the return of Jorge "El Tata" Arvizu, a highly regarded Mexican actor who was returning to the character after a 13-year hiatus, having dubbed Don Adams in the 1960s TV series and again in the short-lived 1990s ''

Get Smart ''Get Smart'' is an American comedy television series parodying the Spy fiction, secret agent genre that had become widely popular in the first half of the 1960s with the release of the ''James Bond'' films. It was created by Mel Brooks and Bu ...

'' TV series starring Andy Dick.

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, ''Get Smart'' has a 51% rating based on 223 reviews with an average rating of 5.60/10. The site's critical consensus reads "''Get Smart'' rides Steve Carell's considerable charm for a few laughs, but ultimately proves to be a rather ordinary action comedy".

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

gave the film a score of 54 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. Audiences polled by

CinemaScore CinemaScore is an American market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts from the data. Background Ed Mintz, who ...

gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. The film received positive reviews from

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...

and Lisa Schwarzbaum from ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''.

Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...

of the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' also gave the film a thumbs up, saying that it was "one of the more pleasant surprises of the year". Critic James Berardinelli also gave it a positive review. Negative responses came from Glenn Whipp of the ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'' calling it "staggeringly bad" and Mick LaSalle of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' stating that "It couldn't buy a laugh in a

nitrous oxide Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or factitious air, among others, is a chemical compound, an Nitrogen oxide, oxide of nitrogen with the Chemical formula, formula . At room te ...

factory with a fistful of clown noses." Kenneth Turan of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' said "it neglects the laughs and amps up the action, resulting in a not very funny comedy joined at the hip to a not very exciting spy movie." It also received negative reviews from

Richard Schickel Richard Warren Schickel (February 10, 1933 – February 18, 2017) was an American film historian, journalist, author, documentarian, and film and literary critic. He was a film critic for ''Time'' from 1965–2010, and also wrote for '' ...

from ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

'' and David Ansen from ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'', with the latter stating, "it's not Maxwell who's clueless, but the filmmakers ... Director (Pete) Segal ... is a comedy specialist lacking any apparent sense of humor."

Box office

''Get Smart'' grossed $130.3 million domestically and $100.3 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to $230.7 million.Get Smart (2008)
.

Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is an American website that tracks box-office revenue in a systematic, algorithmic way. The site was founded in 1998 by Brandon Gray, and was bought in 2008 by IMDb, which itself is owned by Amazon. History Brandon Gray ...

. Retrieved December 20, 2010. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $38.6 million in 3,911 theaters in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, ranking #1 at the

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

and averaging $9,891 per venue. The film was released in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

on August 22, 2008, and opened on #3, behind '' Hellboy II: The Golden Army'' and '' Mamma Mia!''.

Home media

''Get Smart'' was released on DVD and

Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...

on November 4, 2008 by

Warner Home Video Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, Inc. (doing business as Warner Bros. Home Entertainment; formerly known as Warner Home Video and WCI Home Video and sometimes credited as Warner Home Entertainment) is the American home video distribution ...

. Two versions of the film were released: the theatrical version and an enhanced version that allows viewers to view alternate takes and deleted scenes placed within the context of the film. The film was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on February 23, 2009. Approximately 2,088,163 DVD units were sold, translating to revenue of $34,652,714 (Blu-ray sales/rentals not included).

Future

Spin-off

A spin-off film, '' Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control'' (featuring Oka, Torrence, Miller, Warburton, Crews and a cameo by Hathaway reprising their roles), was released on DVD on July 1, 2008, eleven days after the feature film's theatrical release. The film tells a standalone story that takes place concurrently with the events within the film (including a scene in which Agent 99 calls Lloyd and angrily berates him for the poor quality of her gadgets compared to Max's; that scene takes place immediately after Max accidentally renders himself unconscious with a blowgun during a stakeout in the main film).

Cancelled sequel

On October 7, 2008, it was reported that

and Village Roadshow Pictures were producing a sequel. Carell, Hathaway, and Arkin were set to return, but the status of other cast members had yet to be announced. In July 2010, Steve Carell stated that he had recently been given a potential script for the sequel to ''Get Smart'', but had passed on it. He said that he was still very interested in eventually making a ''Get Smart'' sequel, but was willing to wait until a decent script was developed. In 2010, Carell said: "I took a pass at ''Get Smart 2'', write a completely new story and we'll see what happens with that somewhere down the line perhaps... Anne Hathaway is definitely in and Alan Arkin, so at some point... we don't have any projected date and the script still needs some tweaking and some rewriting." During 2013, Carell stated that it was unlikely that there really would be a sequel. In December 2013, however, Peter Segal claimed a ''Get Smart 2'' had been close to being made, with the "funny script" written by Carell himself. By 2019, Segal stated that too much time had passed for a ''Get Smart'' sequel to be viable. Alan Arkin died in 2023, which would further negate any chance of a sequel.

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Get Smart 2000s action adventure films 2000s adventure comedy films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s spy action films 2000s spy comedy films 2008 action comedy films 2008 films American action adventure films American action comedy films American adventure comedy films American spy action films American spy comedy films English-language action adventure films English-language action comedy films English-language adventure comedy films Films based on television series Films about nuclear war and weapons Films about music and musicians Films set on airplanes Films set in Washington, D.C. Films set in Los Angeles Films set in Russia Films set in Moscow Films set in museums Films shot in Washington, D.C. Films shot in Montreal Films shot in Los Angeles Adaptations of works by Mel Brooks Get Smart films Films directed by Peter Segal Films produced by Charles Roven Films scored by Trevor Rabin Village Roadshow Pictures films Warner Bros. films Atlas Entertainment films Teen Choice Award winning films