'Get Smart' Misses by 'That Much' (gratuitous Bush/Cheney bashing in new film)

© 2008 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. ^ | Tuesday, June 17, 2008 | By Roger Friedman

[Behind Liberal Lines]

"Get Smart," which I saw Monday night, is a hodgepodge. The good news is, it’s not awful. It has somehow retained a little of the Brooks/Henry spirit. There is just enough of it, spread around thinly, to make you remember what real satire was like, since "Get Smart" was a take-off on everything from "The Man from UNCLE" to James Bond....James Caan also appears as a bumbling president of the U.S. who’s under the thumb of his evil VP.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

Too bad. As a fan of the original and Steve Carell, I was looking forward to this film, but I'm not handing over my cash for yet another piece of gratuitous H'Wood Bush bashing.

[Aria]

me neither.

[Red Badger]

Uh, would you believe, it’s a POS?......................

[rightinthemiddle]

I was looking forward to this, but now it’s: No go, no rent, no buy DVD.

[JRios1968]

The old “Hidden Bush-bashing trick...”

[Gay State Conservative]

Judging from the film clips I’ve seen I think I’d rather have a root canal than to see that piece of swill.

[Global2010]

As much as I am unhappy with Bush on some serious issues that he seems to be dumb/deaf and blind to I have to feel empathy for him as he has had a hell of a load to carry when it comes to disasters from 9/11 to catastrophic weather nationwide.

[pissant]

They should have never tried to remake the Avengers into a movie, or Get Smart. Perfection is not to be toyed with.

[Gay State Conservative]

....but now it’s: No go, no rent, no buy DVD.

Don't 99.9% of the films released in the last 25+ years belong in that category?

[NormsRevenge]

more crap from Hollywood.

[wtc911]

The old “Hidden Bush-bashing trick...”

__________________________________________

Second time this week...

[wac3rd]

Hollywood loves its Lefty politics...while living in gated communities that keep the “little people” out.

[visualops]

I haven’t been impressed by the promos. No one in Hollywood has any finesse. Everything is over the top camp. From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t hold a candle to the show, which was hilarious and endearing. Much like they’ll never duplicate Sellers as Clouseau, heck, I’m just tired of all the remakes. Doesn’t anyone in tinseltown know how to write?

[prolifefirst]

Would you believe . . .

[rightinthemiddle]

I find myself buying old movies on DVD...I buy about 2-3 new movies a year. The last was the National Treasure follow-up; I bought “Transformers” which had a little jab at Bush, but essentially was a great “good vs. evil” movie.

Hmmm...Jon Voight was in both...

[longtermmemmory]

The Avengers failed because they took a remakable and sexy Mrs. Peel and turned her into just another one dimentional feminist character.

From the commercials it seemed pretty clear get smart was just another assembly line cliche movie.

[prolifefirst]

Don't 99.9% of the films released in the last 25+ years belong in that category?

Is this code for Barbara Feldon? Now you're talking.

[jmaroneps37]

Thanks for the heads up. I had the pleasure of meeting The Rock’s dad and he is great guy. I thought the Rock had his head on straight and I thought I understood why after speaking with his father. I guess I was wrong.

[batter]

The good news is, it’s not awful.

That line says it all. That's about as good as a movie can get today. Sad.

[Ouderkirk]

Any movie that is a remake of an old TV show is a guaranteed disappointment. They will always get in their anti-republican dig, anti-Bush jab, and generally do a poor job of recreating the original since they were not old enough to appreciate the original, the times, and circumstances which made it appealing.

Dukes of Hazzard for example was a campy TV show which had some pretty thin plot lines, but in the spirit of the times was quite good for a family show. The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Starsky & Hutch, and the list goes on. The shows were great for their time, but that time has passed. The remakes are just vulgar copies without the skilled writers.

It took real skill to write a show as bad (in concept) as the Dukes of Hazzard and actually make it work in a family primetime TV setting.

[Gay State Conservative]

Is this code for Barbara Feldon? Now you're talking.

Yah,Agent 99 was pretty easy on the eye but,given the choice,I'd take Captain Kirk's yeoman any day.If she's good enough for Charlie X she's good enough for me.

[johnny7]

As a fan of the original and Steve Carell...

Bad pick for Carell... a stinker like this requires a real, non-talent jackass.

[coincheck]

Not anymore, there has not been a really good movie from hollywood in a long time. Everything now that comes out from there has cussing, sex, and wanton violence in almost every scene.

What happened to having a real plot and a story line that doesn’t have anything vulgar in it? I like the old movies better, with real actors and actresses, they had (and were) character, and class.

[skeeter]

You don’t think Dwayne Douglas Johnson walking into a wall while checking out the secretary is funny? Har, har...

[pissant]

They should of at least picked a gal who was in the same league of beauty as Diana Rigg...There is no comparison.

[Behind Liberal Lines]

I had the pleasure of meeting The Rock’s dad and he is great guy. I thought the Rock had his head on straight and I thought I understood why after speaking with his father. I guess I was wrong.

In the Rock's defense, he's not really at the point in his career where he can risk alienating the liberal powers that be in H'Wood by boycotting GOP bashing scripts.

[NativeNewYorker]

Ah, the Avengers.

[Post-Neolithic]

Speaking of bad Liberal films,don’t even waste your money on “The Happening”. Zero plot, bad acting, less then zero action and a big old “Green” theme.

[Gay State Conservative]

You don’t think Dwayne Douglas Johnson walking into a wall while checking out the secretary is funny? Har, har...

First of all,what's a Dwayne Douglas Johnson?

(Yah,I'm old.Really old!)

[djf]

I simply don’t find Carell funny at all. His form of humor seems to be either:
insulting other people or
trying to weasel out of it when he makes a mistake or insults other people

Certainly not the humor of the greats like Hope, Carson, and others.

[PennsylvaniaMom]

Re: the Get Smart promos...I was more impressed with the Subway ‘Jared’ tie in commercial...(Jared to Subway Counterperson)...’you were expecting someone else?’

[DannyTN]

"When you make something politically correct, it comes out like bland Jell-O," Mel (Brooks) advised me. "When it’s irreverent, it’s like chocolate so good you could die for."

[Niteranger68]

As much as I am unhappy with Bush on some serious issues that he seems to be dumb/deaf and blind to I have to feel empathy for him as he has had a hell of a load to carry when it comes to disasters from 9/11 to catastrophic weather nationwide.

I agree. The libs hate him because he has some conservative leanings. The conservatives hate him because he has some conservative leanings. If anyone is truly curious as to why we had so little to pick from in the Republican primary, just look at the way we treat those who don't pass the 100% conservative test. Who in their right mind would volunteer for that treatment?

[Gay State Conservative]

My goodness,Mrs Peel sure knew how to wear a....spiked collar.

[wbill]

“The Happening”.

I was actually excited to see this movie. I liked some of M. Night's older flicks, and this looked like a "Signs"-type movie.

Then, I found out about what "The Happening" was, and what caused it. The premise actually made me laugh out loud.....glad I didn't waste the $$$$ on seeing it in the theater. Or frankly, the time ever seeing it.

[benjamin032]

Oddly I found the Dukes of Hazzard to be insulting and a vile caricature of Southerners. It seemed that the shows of the 70s, Jeffersons, Chico and the Man, Sanford and Son to name a few, had people trying to break from stereotypes while the Dukes were reinforcing them.

[NativeNewYorker]

A more conventional look.

[A_perfect_lady]

Hollywood can’t really do much worthwhile anymore, can it?

[NewJerseyJoe]

[A_perfect_lady]

Hollywood loves its Lefty politics...while living in gated communities that keep the “little people” out.

Not at all! The little people come on Tuesdays and Fridays to do the housework and landscaping. For a pittance.

[Liberal Bob]

ping

[The Louiswu]

"don’t even waste your money on “The Happening”"

I completely agree. What a waste. Lousy acting, the big, scarey,eco-plot.

I feel like M.KNight wrote himself into a corner with that one, mankind was utterly helpless and the threat would have killed everyone had it not just ended...no real explanation...it just ended.

Lousy film, two thumbs way down.

[batter]

My theory on the decline in quality is Hollywood’s reliance on special effects and vulgar humor (plus the weird obsession of preaching their politics in non-political movies).

[skeeter]

The Rock, to WWF fans...

[Post-Neolithic]

I have seen some real dogs in my lifetime, but I have never been to a movie where people started booing within 30 minutes of start and almost a 1/4 of the people just walked out. Quite a few were headed to the ticket counter to get a refund.

Which is exactly what I felt like doing but figured there was no sense in taking it out on the help.

[AU72]

I wouldn't mind a little ribbing of Presidents in movies but it's never bi-partisan.

Bill Clinton's antics screamed for screen parody but when was the last time you saw an intern pop-out from under his desk in a movie?

[DoughtyOne]

Yes. My wife and I probably saw two or three movies in the theater last year. We used to see two to four a month.

What I find the most disappointing is the trash that makes it’s way into movies that are obviously big draws for children.

Case in point: The transvestite in Shrek III

In that movie alone, I’ll bet I could find ten or more situtations that should have been left out, rather then expose children to them.

As for the adult stuff you were addressing, it’s rampant these days. Hollywierd has become nothing more than a big propaganda mill. If it isn’t some ecological nonsense, it’s Bush bashing or something else. I try to fund this stuff in as minimalist a manner as I can.

We purchase previously viewed DVDs a lot. We buy them at 3 or 4 per $20. The industry could have had the full ticket price times two if it wasn’t so intent on propagandizing me.

[fish hawk]

Doesn't anyone in Tinseltown know how to write?

I guess not. They went on strike recently and no one even missed them. What's that say.

[LottieDah]

“...Bill Clinton’s antics screamed for screen parody but when was the last time you saw an intern pop-out from under his desk in a movie?”

or buzzing Betty Curry on the intercom asking her for some “stain remover”.

[prolifefirst]

Oh, Max . . .