Get Smart
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: June 20, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews
Positive:
16
Mixed:
16
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It’s funny, exciting, preposterous, great to look at, and made with the same level of technical expertise we’d expect from a new Bond movie itself. And all of that is very nice, but nicer still is the perfect pitch of the casting. Read full review
83
Seattle Post-IntelligencerAndy Spletzer
Get Smart is action movie and spoof and, though it's often a little unbalanced, the ultimate result is a harmlessly entertaining picture. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The unexpected star is Hathaway, looking cool as a runway model in the role originated by Barbara Feldon, lithe as a (pink) panther, and displaying great comic timing. Read full review
80
Film ThreatMark Bell
The movie is fun, and hilarious, because of its child-like whimsy. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Steve Carell's portrayal of Max is just about perfect for the material. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Get Smart turns out to be a much more entertaining movie than its tedious trailers suggest. It's not going to redefine comedy as we know it, but it's amusing and briskly paced, busy with an engaging mix of supporting actors. Read full review
70
Village VoiceJ. Hoberman
This redux is a rare device: a TV remake for the big screen that works on its own terms. Read full review
70
Washington PostStephen Hunter
As for Hathaway, she's a revelation. Those eyes are still as big as Beamer hubcaps, but she's able to show more edge than her previous goody-goody roles have allowed. Read full review
70
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Get Smart could have been smarter. But like the show that inspired it, it's still smarter than it looks. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
Get Smart the sitcom was a one-joke affair and got tedious fast, whereas Carell’s starry-eyed dweeb has room for nuance, for growth, for inspiration. Read full review
63
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Director Peter Segal ups the ante on the action, aiming for Bourne more than Bond, but the stunts grow frenzied and increasingly flat. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Bright enough, but stops short of being clever. Read full review
63
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
It's a light, silly instantly forgettable comedy peppered with action set-pieces and affectionate nods to its fondly remembered predecessor, including a gracious end-credits dedication to the late Don Adams and Edward Platt. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
Max's even more fabled shoe phone also makes an appearance - and, fortunately for Get Smart, the self-deprecating Carell isn't shoe-phoning in his inspired performance. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Mixes broad slapstick and off-hand one-liners in a sometimes surprisingly funny mixture. Read full review
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The movie errs by turning Max into a figure of hangdog sympathy: "The 40 Year Old Virgin" with a shoe phone. Read full review
60
EmpireTony Horkins
Despite a plot that should be simpler, Get Smart is as big on action as it is on laughs and works because it?s less a tired spoof and more a quality comedic adventure movie in its own right. Read full review
58
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
You never get the sense that the director, Peter Segal, knows where the funny is, whether in his star or in the story. Read full review
58
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
For the most part it's dull, bland and unsatisfying: a food-court version of home cooking. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
This is a slap-dash effort whose producers threw money and stunts onscreen instead of the satirical gags and one-liners that made the old spy spoof so memorable. Read full review
50
VarietyJohn Anderson
Helmer Peter Segal's formulaic takeoff is neither fish nor fowl, not quite faithful to the show, but not quite bringing it into the 21st century either. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleMarjorie Baumgarten
The film reunites Carell with his "Little Miss Sunshine" co-star Arkin, who, as always, delivers the goods, as do most of the other supporting players. Too long by at least 15-20 minutes, Get Smart is nevertheless a giggly summer movie. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
Missed it by that much. Actually, the new version of Get Smart misses by a fair-size margin. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerDavid Hiltbrand
All that's missing is the spirit and the anarchic humor of the sitcom created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. The result is an overdressed, carefully stitched scarecrow of a comedy. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
It flounders whenever it tries to weave the real world into its fantasia, partly because it isn't really about anything other than making money, partly because the spy-versus-spy battle doesn't entertain the way it once did. Read full review
50
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
Remaking Get Smart without Don Adams and Barbara Feldon is like remaking "My Little Chickadee" without Mae West and W.C. Fields--the best possible outcome is disappointment. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Get Smart neglects the laughs and amps up the action, resulting in a not very funny comedy joined at the hip to a not very exciting spy movie. Talk about killing two birds with one stone. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubScott Tobias
There are many stretches when it's easy to forget that Get Smart is a spoof; it's more like a third-rate James Bond with pratfalls. Read full review
42
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
At least we have Alan Arkin playing the head of CONTROL. His drone and deadpan are a perfect complement to Carell's. But please, pretty please, let's not go for a sequel on this one, OK? Read full review
40
NewsweekDavid Ansen
In this distressingly generic spy spoof, it's not Maxwell who's clueless, but the filmmakers. Read full review
40
TimeRichard Schickel
That Max Smart is played by the admirable Steve Carell, who is desperately looking for deadpan jokes in all the wrong places, is beside the point. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth Weitzman
While the whole cast -- including Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson -- is game, too much time was spent coordinating chase scenes and explosions, and too little fixing a slack script that relies on bathroom humor and snickering sex jokes. Read full review
30
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Rather than the laugh a minute promised by old comedies, Get Smart generates approximately one laugh per hour, and I can't remember either one. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalle
Remaking Get Smart for the big screen might have sounded like a bad idea, but the movie shows it to have been something else: a REALLY bad idea. Read full review
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