Getting Smart at the movies!

I notice that there is a new version of "Get Smart", which will be released at US cinemas on June 20th 2008, and in the UK on the 15th August 2008.

The film stars Steve Carell as Agent 86, aka Maxwell Smart, Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock, as Agent 23, and Alan Arkin, who back in 1968 made what is regarded as an unsuccessful attempt to replace Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau in the film of the same name, will play the chief.

Get Smart was a classic comedy spy show which ran from 1965-1970 and starred the late great Don Adams as Maxwell Smart. The series really worked because of Don Adams, who could do ridiculous comedy, but do it so straight and so well that you completely suspended disbelief for that half hour. It was a trait that Don Adams later brought to a 1980s cartoon, called Inspector Gadget. Even though he only provided the voice, it was unmistakable. Adams was a great comedic talent, and he is much missed. The series was basically created to capitalise on the popularity of the James Bond films.

Whether Steve Carell can even come close to recapturing the ludicrousness of the original is open to question, but this film could almost be an Anne Hathaway vehicle, especially as in the posters and advertising that I have seen, Hathaway is seemingly shown as the star, despite being Agent 99, and not the title character. We'll have to wait and see.