Get Smart

Ok, I'll admit. The real reason I wanted to see this movie was because of the preview where Steve Carell flings the phone receiver at the guy while yelling, "I think you forgot the element of SURPRIIIIIAAAHH." Thankfully, I was not disappointed. I've never seen the original show, but I was pleasantly surprised at how well done this movie was. And yet. Somehow, by a strange combination of factors the movie seems to fall forgettably between being an awful summer trash-fest, and an amazing summer classic.

Maxwell Smart (Carell) is an analyst for the CIA rival Control who dreams of becoming a field agent. And when the identities of every agent becomes comprised Max and Agent 99 are the only ones left to step up. What's great about Max is that he's not entirely incompetent. In fact, he's quite good at his job, he's just a little clumsy and still a bit green. This makes it almost as delightful when he gets it right, as it is when he screws it up. This also makes it possible for Max to be just a funny guy in general. If he's competent then it's so much funnier when he describes the bad guy as having "one of those Easter Island heads."

Whoever cast this movie deserves props because Anne Hathaway and Steve Carell play off of each other perfectly. Somehow they manage to make you feel their individual frustration with each other, all the while secretly recognizing it for foreplay. Even The Rock was great here. Oh, sorry. He's simply Dwayne Johnson now. I've always liked watching him in various roles, but never thought he was that attractive. This movie changed my mind.

As with all secret agent movies, there are moments when you wonder at the hero's logic. Why he would use the cross-bow function on a knife to cut off his cuffs? Who knows and who cares? It's more amusing to watch him accidentally pierce himself.

But even with so many great jokes, and great plot structure, and great pacing, I managed to leave the theater and immediately forget most of the film. It was a good movie, and gave a solid hour and a half of fun. And yet, I have a feeling that in a few years I'll be saying, "Wait, did I see that movie? I think so . . ."

The Happening

I don't like scary movies. Period. But it wasn't until I was sitting in the theater waiting for the show to start that it occurred to me that I was voluntarily going to see a "scary" movie. Maybe it was the influence of M. Night Shyamalan (the Shyamalan effect I call it) but I was actually kind of looking forward to being a little scared.

The story is about a strange occurrence that causes people to temporarily become disorientated, pause mid-step, then take actions to do themselves in. Not sure whether this is a terrorist attack or some strange disease spreading people begin to flee the major cities. Mark Wahlberg and his wife are two of these people. They end up on foot, running from an unknown attacker along with the daughter of Wahlberg's teaching associate.

What this movie lacks is also probably it's strongest point. For the first time Shyamalan doesn't try to catch the audience with an "ah-ha" moment. The source of the event is suggested fairly early on in the film and we gain more information as the story progresses. But by taking away the tension of anticipating a twist, he allows the audience time to ponder on the implications of the event itself. There is very limited information on the event and, without an obvious external trigger, the whole film has a pervasive sense of dread that we can never quite escape from. Even though none of the characters SAY it, you can almost hear their rationale as they realize that they're acting on the best information possible, even though it is limited and will probably lead them to their deaths.

The film ends on a bit of a cliche "everything's better in happy-land now" type note, but given that the whole film we're waiting to find out what happens LATER I think the "content moment followed by suggestion of impending doom" was about the best one could hope for. A lot of people will be disappointed in this film based solely on the fact that it's by Shyamalan. But I think that if you watched it without that qualifier, you might actually enjoy the movie. No it's not The Sixth Sense, but it's a decent movie in it's own right.

Eagle vs. Shark

Any fan of Flight of the Conchords should seriously consider seeing this movie. It stars Jemaine Clement as a socially awkward, revenge seeking, eagle loving, video game champion. Also, he's the romantic lead. Lily (Lauren Horsley) notices Jarrod (Clement) as he comes into the fast food chain she works at for lunch every day. After finagling her way into a costume part of his, the two begin dating and Lily struggles to understand their relationship while helping Jarrod exact revenge on his high school bully.


The best way to describe the tone of this movie is that it's like Napoleon Dynamite, except in a New Zealand kind of way. The one difference is that no one seems to judge Jarrod for his quirks, even the seemingly normal people. Even Lily is herself quite normal, and simply stunning, but you see her admire Jarrod even from the first frame, when we're still not sure what she sees in him.

What this film does beautifully is to distract your attention from any major conflict (the stakes are impossibly low) while all the while subtly hinting that there is something more important going on here. And I'm a big fan of subtlety. Suddenly it becomes a film about the complexity of relationship (romantic and otherwise) and the effort to live up to people's expectations. But it does all this while making you cringe in delight at the earnestness of Lily and Jarrod.

As if that weren't enough, there is one line that adeptly sums up all the aching and frustration simmering below the surface throughout this film: "I want to say two things. One: I'm leaving tomorrow on a bus. Two: That might change."

I can't tell you how much I liked this film. If I were the type of person to inflict an arbitrary rating system on you, this movie would get a full 7 out of 7 eagles. Because they're slightly better than sharks.

A Subtle Review

In all my post-bachelors-degree free time I've been watching a lot of movies. So I've decided to start posting my thoughts on them. No, I wasn't a film major. Or even minor. But I've got a lot of movie-related thoughts and they've got to go somewhere. And that somewhere is here.

Yes, some of these movies are rated R (sorry Mom) but I give a lot of thought to the movies I see. And so while you may notice a few light-R's, you'll notice fewer hard-PG-13's. There's a big difference. If you're really curious whether one of these bad-boys is worth seeing write me a note and I'll be glad to talk you in/out of it, depending on your preference.