Smart Choice

So, went to see the latest Harry Potter movie (SPOILERZ: Harry kisses a real live girl!), and I was blown away. No, not by the movie, by the previews.

They're making Get Smart into a movie, and for once the Hollywood casting geniuses have it right. For all of you too young to remember, comic genius Don Adams, also known as the voice of Tennessee Tuxedo, starred in the original Get Smart series, in the title role of lovably inept Maxwell Smart. Smart, a covert agent for Control (think CIA without the humongous budget), battled evil in the form of the obviously intellectually superior, but sadly unlucky evil agents of KAOS, led by Smart's nemesis, the sinister Siegfried. Unfortunately, though cutting a snappy figure in a tux, Maxwell Smart was neither suave nor smooth, but painfully klutzy and not very bright. Smart's ultimate success was largely attributable to his beautiful partner, Agent 99, played by Barbara Feldman.

Without Don Adams, making a movie out of this classically campy series would seem disastrous, were it not for some inspired casting: Steve Carrell as Maxwell Smart. At least, that's what all of us sitting in the audience thought, as we watched the preview. Lots of excited murmurs, and "I used to love that show!" peppered with, "perfect choice, really," which is good news for all Carrell fans after the (less than stellar) Evan Almighty performance this summer. In addition, lovely Anne Hathaway (The Devil Wears Prada) plays Agent 99.

Special treat for fans of the original series: look for Bill Murray as the perpetually unlucky Agent 13.

Get Smart, the movie, is due out next year. You can catch the original 1965 series with Don Adams on DVD over at Amazon.

(Oh, and if you're wondering, more movie reviews are on the way, including the latest Harry Potter.)