Get Smart (2008)

Get Smart spends its first hour as a spoof and its last half hour auditioning to be a real action movie, and the jokes don’t survive the trip. Steve Carell plays Max as a guy who’s great at his desk job and hopeless at everything else, a smarter angle than pure bumbling. Alan Arkin is the MVP as the Chief, grumbling like a man who has signed one expense report too many. Anne Hathaway’s Agent 99 is sharp and dry, and Dwayne Johnson is having a ball as the agency’s golden boy. Terence Stamp plays Siegfried so stiffly that the finale has nothing to push against. The gadget gags land about half the time, and Max fumbling a trick pocketknife in an airplane bathroom is the high point. It made $230.7 million worldwide on a reported $80M. A 5.4 because the cast is a blast and the script runs out of jokes before it runs out of chases. $5,824 says the next pocketknife you see, you count the tools and wonder which one fires a tiny crossbow.

What works: Alan Arkin’s deadpan Chief and Steve Carell’s earnest Max make a great pair, and Anne Hathaway plays it straight in all the right places.

What doesn’t: The last act trades jokes for generic chases and explosions, and Terence Stamp’s villain never feels like a real threat.

Who it’s for: People who want a light Steve Carell comedy and don’t mind when it turns into an action movie halfway through.