the dialogue Oscar-worthy. That does not stop Maxwell Smart, played by Steve Carrell, from being hilarious. “Get Smart” is a lukewarm summer blockbuster that hinges on caricature performances by Carrell, Anne Hathaway as Agent 99, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and two dweeby guys that get their revenge in the end.

Smart is a nice enough guy, who is fluent in several languages, which he translates before breakfast for his job as intelligence at Control, a U.S. spy agency, which was supposedly disbanded after KAOS (basically, a synonym for “commies”) was defeated. Well, jump from 1965 to 2008, and KAOS is still alive and kicking and they have blown up Control headquarters. Smart is an awkward guy who always wanted to be a field agent, but, according to the chief, was too good at his desk job to be promoted. After headquarters is blown up and all of the agent’s identities stolen, the chief does not have any other choice to put Maxwell smart and Agent 99, who has recently had massive plastic surgery, out in the field. After some mishaps in the Russia, accompanied by Carrell’s train of hilarious stream-of-consciousness aside comments, there is a plot twist that almost any seasoned moviegoer can see coming, but I won’t ruin it because that is just plain mean.

Get Smart is a remake of a 1960s television show that follows the same Maxwell Smart in his bumbling adventures, which Agent 99 usually bails him out of. In the tradition of Mrs. Emma Peel of the Avengers, Agent 99 is saving the world, rough-and-tumble-style while looking impeccable and maintaining her lady-like qualities. Hathaway does well with the role, although, her character mainly steals the show by kicking everyone’s tail all the time. The movie pays homage to the television show at the end when Carrell uses the same shoe phone that Don Adams used as the original Maxwell Smart.

This is something you should see on the big screen, but nothing like Iron Man or Indiana Jones, which you must see on the big screen to have the awesome full effect of your eyeballs drying out and your teeth being jarred by the surround sound. See Get Smart in the theatres, it’s worth the matinee. Then again, Steve Carrell standing alone, having a conversation with himself is worth the price of a movie ticket.