Get Smart

Although it never achieves a consistent amount of momentum, and Steve Carell is under-directed by Peter Segal ("Tommy Boy"), "Get Smart" pulls off a sufficient number of goofy set pieces to earn its entertainment value. Aside from the ever-flat presence of Dwayne Johnson—here playing Agent 23, a good-guy spy with a jealousy issue—it’s Anne Hathaway who drags the comedy down due to a condescending attitude that permeates her role as sexpot spy Agent 99. Where Barbara Feldon played the television roll of Maxwell Smart’s capable partner with a knowing wink, Hathaway takes her hairstyle too seriously to be in on the joke—namely that Max is an idiot savant spy with a quick tongue. Don’t look for a story here because there isn’t one, but that’s as it should be for the post-post-cold-war treatment of Russia as an excuse for great location shooting in Moscow. Alan Arkin gives a snappy performance as the U.S. spy agency CONTROL Chief, referred to only as the Chief, and the production values are high. For a slick Hollywood summer comedy, "Get Smart" just does the trick.

Rated PG-13, 111 mins. (B-)