I Was Wrong! (Beware of Spoilers)

Okay, a while back I expressed my doubts about the Get Smart movie.

Actually, I have to admit. I was totally wrong about this one. I saw the movie today and actually...it was really good.

(I shouldn't have to warn you that there will be some spoilers in this right?)

I figured, as a fan of the original series, that I wouldn't like it. But I really think it worked. (And Carrell's Adams voice is much better in the movie than it was in the trailers I'd seen.)

I think what made it work for me was the particular tone of the humor. It was very funny but it wasn't mean spirited, I think. I don't always mind mean humor, but it wouldn't have worked here.

I think the best example of the kind of humor of the movie was in one part of the movie in which Max and 99 are in Russia. 99 is dancing with a villain and Max ends up asking a fat girl to dance.

I have to admit, I cringed as soon as she appeared on the screen. I'd seen more than enough "comedies" to figure out where this was going. Especially given that the dance was the sort that involved lots of lifting. I knew I'd feel so bad for that poor girl by the end of it. And while, as I said, I don't mind vicious humor sometimes, I prefer it when it's targetting people who deserve it, not poor innocent folk who are only guilty of not fitting in to Hollywood's standards of beauty.

But the moment of humiliation never came. Even when, at the climax he lifts her over his head. I was expecting a "CRASH" or something else cruel and embarrassing. But it didn't happen! The most physical humor regarding her size was a bit of sweating and a mumbled "Thank you for jumping." The girl got to saunter out, head held high, and middle finger ready to the skinny little model types who'd mocked her.

And that's the thing really. There was a joke there, but the girl was a part of the joke, not the victim of it. They could have gone the traditional route and humiliated her, but instead set up a situation where you could imagine that she went home with a triumphant, happy memory to savor for the rest of her life. It was awesome!

Also, the skeeviness I expected to result from the twenty-year age difference between Carrell and Anne Hathaway wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. It helped that they gave her a throwaway line of actually being close to his age but looking younger with plastic surgery. I'd still have preferred casting an older woman, but it pretty much worked for me.

Alan Arkin and Terrance Stamp were awesome too, naturally. Brilliant casting all around.

I really didn't expect it to be very good. My mother and I picked it on a whim (the original plan was to see Hellboy. We'll still see that of course, just...later). But it really was hilarious.

I love being wrong about this sort of thing!