Point-by-Point: Get Smart 7/10

A terrorist smuggles a suitcase-sized nuclear weapon into LA in order to blow up the President as well as a large chunk of downtown. Hilarity ensues! Actually it does, since the whole plot is being stopped by Maxwell Smart, the bumbling CONTROL agent from the classic TV show.

The Good: This movie is thoroughly enjoyable. Looking back, I can't really point to anything that was particularly "good," but everything just seemed to work. It could be that I'm biased, since I tend to Like Steve Carell, Alan Arkin and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson in anything they do, but there were a lot of scenes and lines that had me laughing hard. There were also some appropriately ridiculous action sequences, so a little something for everyone.

The Bad: The plot and romantic subplot are about as generic as you get, and some of the references to the old show were a bit forced. Plus, the producers completely missed the chance to have Barats and Bereta in their movie, as they tried out for the lab-tech friends.

The Ugly: Well there's an obvious answer, but he's 7'2", 400 lbs and could end me without breaking a sweat.

Points Pondered

• Some may not like changing Maxwell Smart from utterly incompetent agent to an expert analyst who is completely unseasoned in the field, yet overly confident and rather unlucky. Really though, it works and it explains how he could actually keep his job.


• Steve Carell and the Rock would make a seriously cute couple.


• Patrick Warburton makes a cameo at the end. He has the greatest voice ever, and if you don't already love him, go watch the Emperor's New Groove and revel in the awesomeness that is Kronk.


• You gotta hope it's not that easy to get a nuclear bomb within 20 feet of the President. And if you are a villian who DOES manage it, you'd hopefully have a backup way of detonating it, in case your overly-elaborate first method failed.