Get Smart (2008)

Though generally opposed to the remaking and re-imagining of damn near everything that made my childhood dear, I find it hard to feel angry when the result is this much fun. Honestly this shouldn't be nearly as successful as it is, but the combination of a perfectly silly script and the utterly flawless casting of Steve Carrell as Maxwell Smart results in a delightfully hilarious romp. The sense of humor is squarely middle-brow, with surprisingly few cheap shots or overtly foul humor, and it all manages to hit home far more often than it fails. Carrell's bumbling secret agent is a pleasure to watch, with a sense of humor so perfectly dry and timed that you can't help but feel how proud Don Adams would have been. But as good as the humor is, there are deficiencies. When the action decides to ramp up a bit, it frequently leaves the laughs behind, and the action itself isn't anything all that great. Similarly, the prototypical spy gadget dispenser characters are woefully unfunny, and do a remarkable job of dragging down every scene they're in. But the focus of the film is kept mostly on Carrell, steering the tone toward just the right mood. Indeed, if Hollywood is going to continue to pilfer my formative years I could certainly stand to have more of this quality.

7 out of 10.