Character writers Mel Brooks and Buck Henry did a terrible job with Maxwell Smart. They can't decide if he is a misunderstood savant or a total idiot. Maxwell Smart often wavers between what might be called slight retardation and exposing his hidden super spy talents. Steve Carell is sometimes charming and sometimes grating but Maxwell is so poorly written, it is a constant push-pull tug of war and is impossible for the audience to know if we are supposed to admire or loathe Maxwell and Carell.

Agent 99's character development isn't smooth sailing either. Distant and pissed off one minute, she succumbs to her desires as easily as a drunk catholic school girl. There is no reason for the change, nothing really happens and yet we are supposed to believe Agent 99 just throws in the towel and changes in one second? Oh, please.

Get Smart isn't entirely horrific; it's just average and unremarkable in every way. The acting is fine. The camera work is adequate. The direction is common. There is not much for the audience to take away. There is no succulence, no flavor or depth. There is no take away for the audience, even a bad one. I felt like I walked into the theater the same as I walked in, only two hours older.

Stay two hours younger, skip Get Smart. Watch it when you're doing your dishes and it runs on the local television station.