'Sorry About That, Chief'

One of my favorite TV shows while growing up in the late 18th century was Get Smart. And considering how badly some other recent updates of old shows have turned out, I was particularly concerned about this one.

Turns out there was no need to worry. In Steve Carell's capable hands, Max turned out pretty well. In fact, if the original 1960s' Get Smart was intended as a spoof of the Bond films, the new movie puts the old show to shame in that department.

The movie is much more action packed than the series ever was. It has the requisite chase scenes, including one involving skydiving. Another has Max hanging off the back of a Cessna being flown by The Chief. The banter between Max and Agent 99 is also more suggestive than anything you would have heard from Don Adams or Barbara Feldon. Beyond that, Carell's Smart--while still somewhat accident prone--is far less of a doofus than Adams' version ever was.

There aren't quite as many gadgets as in the old show, though a Swiss Army knife containing a flamethrower and a miniature crossbow plays an important role. The shoe phone and the little red convertible driven by Don Adams also make an appearance.

Alan Arkin plays The Chief. And yes, Max gets to deliver his classic "Sorry about that, Chief" line on several occasions. Bill Murray makes a brief appearance as a lonely Agent 13 stuck inside a tree. James Caan plays the not-too-bright President (gee, I wonder who he's modeled after). At one point he's talking about "nook-cue-ler" weapons and someone in his entourage yells "It's pronounced nuc-LEE-er!"

Masi Oka (Hiro from Heroes) and Nate Torrence play CONTROL analysts. A couple of times they bump fists, which I found surprising since that's known to be a secret terrorist signal.

But perhaps the most interesting role belonged to a guy named Dalip Singh. According to his IMDB page, he's 7'2" and almost 400 pounds. Singh is from India and a pro wrestler. Get Smart was his first movie. He plays a KAOS assassin who bears more than a passing resemblance to Jaws, the bad guy played by Richard Kiel in a couple of the Bond films.

And the guy driving the car that Max tries to commandeer at one point? That turned out to be Bernie Koppel, who was Doc on The Love Boat. (Thought he looked familiar.)

One gripe: To reach the underground CONTROL headquarters, Max is seen entering the Smithsonian castle in Washington, DC. Once inside, he has to go past an exhibit of an African elephant. In actuality, the Smithsonian castle has only offices; the elephant is in the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History, located about half a mile further down The Mall in DC. Picky? Yes, but it drives me nuts when movies supposedly set in DC get things wrong.

Much of the story centers around a bakery in Moscow. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but that seemed like an homage to the recurring "I lost you at the bakery" line from the old series.

And would movie theaters PLEASE stop running the Coca-Cola ad with James Carville and Bill Frist? First of all, I find it highly objectionable to have to sit through a damn commercial AFTER I just paid almost eight bucks to see a matinee. Secondly, I understand that the ad is supposed to be cute. It shows Carville (liberal Democratic party advisor) and Frist (conservative Republican and former Senate majority leader) arguing on a talk show, taking a long break while drinking Cokes, and eventually becoming best buddies. Problem is, Frist left DC almost two years when he retired from the Senate. He's gone. He's history. If you're going to torture me with commercials, at least update the damn things occasionally.

Slight change of subject: A lot of reviewers lambasted M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening. Personally, I think it got a bad rap. The movie's no Sixth Sense, but it's still worth seeing. And I thought it was far better than Shyamalan's Signs, which was that ridiculous alien invasion movie with Mel Gibson. Most importantly, it's got Zooey Deschanel in it. And who needs a plot when she's on screen?