Alright ladies, bust out those mechanical pencils and dust off your textbooks; it’s finally time to Get Smart. The movie’s posters and trailers have been out for months, and while I’ve completely revved myself up for a good laugh, I’m still most excited about a heaping dose of one, Anne Hathaway. As Agent 99, Hathaway is reprising Barbara Feldon‘s role, and in an Associated Press interview, she gives credence to the gargantuan shoes she has to fill:
“She inspired so many women. When you look at the kind of women we aspire to be today, a lot of them are very similar to Barbara Feldon’s 99. There’s no way I’m going to be able to touch that kind of legacy, but I do think I have good chemistry with my co-star, so that’s probably what I have in common with her.”The co-star of which she speaks is (of course) Steve Carell, who plays her perpetually inept partner Maxwell Smart. The film may only be hitting theaters today, but the Smart stars hit the red carpet on Monday for its premiere, and they all looked quite dapper.
Now, if you’re thinking that the testosterone-estrogen balance is a little off in that picture, you’re absolutely correct. In fact, according to the movie’s imdb.com page, Hathaway is the only female member of the cast out of the first sixteen actors listed. Normally, that would turn me off of a movie strictly on principle, but, since 99 was the only major female character in the original television series, I’ll give it a pass.
Get Smart definitely has the star power, the marketing and the nostalgia-factor working in its favor, but opening weekend is bound to have its bumps. Not only will it be competing with the obnoxiously over-advertised Mike Myers‘ film The Love Guru, but early reviews haven’t been too kind to Ms. Hathaway’s new flick. Most “experts” agree it will still out-do Guru, but from what I’ve read, the film doesn’t quite live up to expectations.
But, wait! According to Roger Ebert, Hathaway “never tries too hard but dominates the screen effortlessly.” I should hope so. Despite the potential disappointment, I’ll definitely be scraping up $10 worth of loose change to see this over the weekend. How many seats am I saving?
