Steve Carell has patented a very specific type of character: One who bristles with unearned self-confidence, fecklessness, and occasional decency and competence. Who better to update the role of Maxwell Smart, the most clueless of secret agents? Well, critics say Get Smart benefits from Carell's screen persona, but falters when it delves into action territory. Stepping into the role made famous by Don Adams, Carell is Maxwell Smart, an overeager and under-qualified spy who's recruited along with the lovely Agent 99 (Anne Hathaway) to take down KAOS, a sinister organization bent on world domination. The pundits say Get Smart is amiable enough, buoyed by a solid cast (including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Alan Arkin, and Terence Stamp) and some solid laughs. But others complain it devolves into a generic action flick, missing the sharp satire of the original show. At 52 percent on the Tomatometer, Get Smart missed it by that much. (Check out pics from the Get Smart premiere here.)
After a long hiatus from live-action comedy, Mike Myers is back, playing a New Age spiritualist in The Love Guru. The critics' advice to Myers: Heal thyself. An American raised by gurus in India, Pitka returns to North America to establish himself in the self-help game; his first undertaking is to help a hockey star heal from the wounds of a recent romantic breakup. The critics say The Love Guru is relentlessly juvenile, wasting a solid collection of players (including Jessica Alba,
Justin Timberlake,
Ben Kingsley, and
Verne Troyer) on shticky comic set pieces that lack rhythm or wit. At 13 percent, The Love Guru is less than enlightening. It's also one of the worst-reviewed films of Myers' career.
"Welcome to Being John Malkovich, LLC."
Also opening this week in limited release:
Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, starring
Abigail Breslin as a plucky Depression-era girl who solves a mystery and saves her family's house in the process, is at 68 percent.
Expired, a dark indie comedy starring
Samantha Morton and
Jason Patric as parking meter officers in love, is at 75 percent;
And Brick Lane, the story of a Bangladeshi woman who experiences culture shock after an arranged marriage brings her to London, is at 60 percent.
Recent Mike Myers Movies:
-------------------------------------
42% -- Shrek the Third (2007)
89% -- Shrek 2 (2004)
12% -- Dr. Seuss' the Cat in the Hat (2003)
14% -- View From the Top (2003)
55% -- Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)
Recent Steve Carell Movies:
-----------------------------------
78% -- Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
23% -- Evan Almighty (2007)
64% -- Dan in Real Life (2007)
73% -- Over the Hedge (2006)
91% -- Little Miss Sunshine (2006)
Related Items
| Movie: | Brick Lane |
| Kit Kittredge: An American Girl | |
| The Love Guru | |
| Expired | |
| Celeb: | Mike Myers |
| Jessica Alba | |
| Anne Hathaway | |
| Steve Carell |
![]() on Jun 19 2008 05:20 PM Im gonna see Get Smart, Love Guru looks awful (what happened to MYERS?!?!?!?). I cant wait til next week for Wanted, I bet that gets tomatoe rating of 68-75, which is good enough for me, because it looks awesome to me... I bet Wall*e gets a tomatoe meter rating of something in the 90's. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 19 2008 06:53 PM Jessica Alba a solid cast member? Hmm. Pretty questionable cast if that's the case. (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 19 2008 07:18 PM The captions are too funny! I'm surprised Get Smart got 50s, I thought the critics would hate it. Love Guru on the other hand, not surprised at all. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 19 2008 08:46 PM I expected this of Get Smart. It's nothing substantial, but it will be fun, and Steve Carell will deliver. (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 19 2008 09:01 PM LOL "You can still get a job after batman and robin", good one Tim. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 19 2008 10:08 PM Hahah, I take it the Get Smart title is a reference to the topic on the Get Smart board saying "I wonder how many reviewers will use the term 'misses by that much?'" Clever stuff. All my friends say they want to see The Love Guru, which makes me think I need friends with better movie taste...Get Smart looks like what the reviews are saying: funny, but nothing really spectacular. I'm ok with that, generally. I'm seriously looking forward to Wall-E and Wanted though. Next weekend is gonna rock. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 19 2008 10:12 PM I am going to look up EVERY single person who goes to see The Love Guru and slap them. I might go see Get Smart, but I want this week over with so we can get to Wanted and Wall-E. (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 19 2008 11:53 PM In reply to this comment (#1801848) Actually, my main man Alex Vo came up with the captions. Credit where it's due. (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 19 2008 11:56 PM In reply to this comment (#1801750) I would argue Ms. Alba has done a good job with mediocre material. And she definitely held her own in Sin City and her cameo in Entourage. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 20 2008 10:30 AM In reply to this comment (#1801943) I saw Love Guru. come and slap me now *****! (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 20 2008 10:53 AM Lmao. Artiga did you enjoy it? (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 20 2008 11:03 AM In reply to this comment (#1801943) I'm going to slander anyone with the namehitnrun017 and personally tell them I saw The Love Guru, cause it was pretty (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 20 2008 11:19 AM Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is! I would recommend to all of those who feel (as I do) that "The Love Guru" being released is an insult to all American film-goers, stand outside your local theater and wait for people to ask for tickets to "The Love Guru". Then, offer to buy their movie ticket for ANY other movie playing instead. If you go during matinee time, it wouldn't cost too much. If everyone got one person to NOT watch it, we could show Hollywood what we really think of their "products". (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 20 2008 12:20 PM People need to relax, everyone gets so bent out of shape. Did you ever think maybe if you don't enjoy a movie that maybe it wasn't for you? Does everyone like the same music? Or the same piece of Art? Or how about the same sports team? The answers to all three are NO. So does that mean the counter to what you like is "bad"? Again the answer is NO. Instead of trying to convince ppl not to see this movie or to see that one, we should just let things be. Let everyone have their own path of discovery, do not take that away from them. It's selfish, after all maybe your neighbor will enjoy Get Smart or The Love Guru, and for that couple of hours in the theatre they can experience a little escapism and have some fun. Word. (Reply to this) |
![]() on Jun 20 2008 12:35 PM In reply to this comment (#1801649) Hmm im thinking the exact same thing as you. Get smart can be fun but love guru has horrible written over it. Wall-e will obviously get something in the high 90s and get praised like every pixar movie (with the exception of cars.) (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 20 2008 12:51 PM I will probably see The Love Guru, but on DVD, not in theater. I must say I'm intrigued to see Justin Timberlake play a Quebecer (wich I am. And I don't understant the marijuana pizza and good porno line. Marijuana is still illegual (but very common) here and I didn't even know we did prono). And I will probably see Get Smart on DVD too. Can't wait for Wall-E. But I'm going eight week in a small, small town, so I don't know if they'll have it. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 20 2008 02:44 PM Both movies look dumb. (Reply to this) |
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on Jun 20 2008 04:40 PM Wasn't expecting Get Smart to be of the same caliber as the show. Oh well, it'll tide me over until Wall-E comes out next week. IMO, the people who were protesting Love Guru earlier this year were wasting their time. If no one goes to see it, it won't be because of them. (Reply to this) |
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