"Get Smart"

Directed by: Peter Segal

Starring: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne Johnson, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp

Rated: PG-13 (for brief rude or crude humor)

Running time: 110 minutes

Best suited for: "Get Smart" (TV), Carell and Hathaway fans; deja vu-ists

Least suited for: fans of newness, freshness, or unique, cutting-edge comedy

NPDoesn't anyone remember the heralded return of "Bewitched"? What have we learned? What have we learned!?

Would you believe that Hollywood continues to hungrily eyeball TV Land's vault of old programming, hoping to resurrect blackand-white favorites of past decades, wanting simply to return us to those carefree days of our youth? Well, would you believe Hollywood foresees a goldmine in regurgitating the '60s, because most of us are either still curious or simply not yet dead enough to preclude taking one more look?

Even though "Get Smart" isn't the first '60s sitcom to escape the clutches of the 2 a.m. syndication circuit, I suspect it's the first of a new wave of old reruns about to be scurried along for lavish development and eventual over-saturation.

It can't be long before "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Hazel," "I Dream of Jeannie," "Green Acres," "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and even "I Love Lucy" will discover some ingenious way to find us again- and at $12 a ticket. It's like a "Twilight Zone" episode where our vacuum-tubed past invades the digital age if only to remind us that we were once young and foolish and paying 39 cents for a gallon for high-test.

Once upon a time (1965-1970 to be exact) savvy creators Mel Brooks and Buck Henry satirized the sizzling hot secret agent craze by putting a bumbling spy (Don Adams) into James Bond's shoes and seeing how much could go wrong. Complete with burgeoning new-age technology in a still largely post-WWII era, Agent 86 muddled his way to success despite his propensity for failure.

The problem, I guess, is that while the original series spoofed the entire Cold War mentality, a way of life for a generation afraid of Commies and the A-bomb, the film is really only spoofing the series. I'm not certain the original show is relevant enough. It's like somebody spoofing Kleenex. What's the point?

I'm not implying that "Get Smart" is a bad movie. It's quite funny now and then. Steve Carell plays Don Adams's Agent 86 role and Anne Hathaway plays Barbara Feldman's Agent 99. A few new elements to the lore. For instance, in the movie Maxwell Smart is on his first assignment, while in the TV series Agent 86 was already a wellhoned killing machine. Oh, and Max has the hots for Agent 99: In reality, "Get Smart" is as much a slapstick romantic comedy as it is spy parody. I'm not sure if that improves or diminishes the original concept, although Carell and Hathaway play well together. In fact the film's better moments occur when the two are attempting to oneup each other.

The film wastes time getting 86 and 99 to Russia for their assignment. The series' simple guilty pleasure was watching Don Adams bumble at will, with few props necessary. Adams was very much a stand-up comedian in his approach. But we spend a great deal of time bouncing around the old USSR, or skydiving (intentionally or not) out of airplanes, or blowing up expensive buildings and cars. "Get Smart" is as much an action thriller too, so there's a bit of everything for everyone. It's the kitchen sink approach to filmmaking.

As for plot development . . . really, do you care? Probably no more than you cared when you turned on the TV, way back when, because "Get Smart" wasn't about plot. It was about a bumbling spy doing what he does best. Bumbling.

Carell bumbles with aplomb, by the way. Hathaway adds a sexy nuance and proves a suitable foil. The film will make you laugh. Things blow up. Hathaway and Carell obviously have fun. You probably will, too.

Just that . . . is this the new age of comedy? I'm not sure that it's quite at all the same beast as "The Philadelphia Story" or "Annie Hall" or "City Lights" or "Sleepless in Seattle" or "Roman Holiday." Perhaps TV Land is where the old sitcoms belong after all.