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The 2008 Movie |
The Old "Start Out With a Bad Script and You End up With a Bad Movie Trick!"
| Peter Segal's Not Smart opened on June 20, 2008 to a solid box office and poor reviews, a combination Hollywood will take every time. When it comes to reviews, Roger Ebert and Entertainment Weekly liked it; Variety, Time, Newsweek, MTV, The Hollywood Reporter, and most everybody else didn't like it. Clearly, it failed to generate any buzz, as summer smashes, Wall E, The Dark Knight, and Sex and the City did. On the other hand, it made money and that's all that the studios really care about. The Direct-to-DVD sequel (Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of CONTROL) was a complete bomb and that did lead to some worry about doing a theatrical sequel. However, the DVD release of the movie did okay, but again, no buzz was generated. It seems that people went to the movie because of their love of Get Smart but felt no need to see it again. |
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My Take: After my first review of this movie's script I was accused of being "biased" towards the original and unable to adjust to a Get Smart without Don Adams, which were ridiculous claims. I was always in favor of a high-quality Get Smart remake and wish I would have gotten one. Above all, the original series stood for quality comedy. Most industry professionals and critics felt the same way, as evidenced by the original series' four Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Comedy Series and its extensive critical acclaim. The movie received zero nominations from all major awards and is "Certified Rotten on Rotten Tomatoes. I was disappointed with the quality of the scripts and many other things about this production, despite a stellar cast. I felt that the movie was not just bad, but terrible and it all goes back to the script, which made Mr. Belvedere look good. I am biased, in that I am a fan of quality comedy, but given the horrible reviews this movie received from multiple sources, I'm clearly not the only person didn't like the movie. I'd also like to mention to all those who accused me of reviewing a "fake script" or "too early a draft" that the scripts I reviewed were pretty much identical to the finished product and that the flaws I've been mentioning were also mentioned by most professional reviewers. I used to have a long review of the movie here, but does anyone really care at this point? It's pretty much forgotten, which is where it belongs.
As I mentioned above, exit polling showed that people loved Get Smart and were entertained by the movie, but didn't love it or see a need for any more movies. I find it interesting to note that Iron Man opened a week before Get Smart and since that point Marvel has created an entire cinematic universe and Warner Brothers couldn't move forward on even one sequel to this. Finally, Steve Carrell declared it officially dead in 2022, which came as a surprise to no one.
I do feel obligated to bring up one pre-production situation that doomed the movie in my opinion. The studio decided to ignore Buck Henry, Mel Brooks, and Leonard Stern. Unlike other movie sites that claim to bring you cool news, I don't change my opinion or write puff pieces in order to score sneak previews and exclusive interviews. In fact, I was offered several very nice incentives if I would take down my negative script review but I think you can see how that went! I also, due to my long association with the show, had access to people who gave me all of the information I needed. It's also a matter of public record if anyone actually checked out facts before printing things.
In a purely financial move dictated by studio lawyers, Warner Brothers claimed that Mel and Buck created the show as a "work-for-hire" for Talent Associates, and therefore did not deserve credit or any financial compensation for creating the show. The legal eagles behind this move forbid any contact between the movie's creative team and Stern, Brooks, or Henry. When the movie began shooting on March 21, 2007 this edict was still in effect. The script, direction, and characterization were all completed with ZERO input from Brooks, Henry, or Stern. Brooks and Henry hired noted intellectual property lawyer Marc Toberoff, who has made a career of beating WB. The case went to the Writers' Guild, who naturally ruled against Warner Brothers. Despite losing, or maybe spitefully losing, lawyers continued to prevent the movie's creative team from contacting the show's original creative team. If you read the press release sent out to announce the start of production of the movie, there's not a single mention of Brooks and Henry, let alone Leonard Stern. Then, on April 11th, Jeffrey Wells of Hollywood Elsewhere released the story of the snubbing and lawsuit as a rumor substantiated by a very reliable anonymous source. The negative backlash was immediate and intense. Within 48 hours of Wells' bombshell, Warner Brothers signed a deal with Mel and Buck to be "creative consultants" to the movie. However, the script had been completed and over three weeks of principal photography had been completed, so their input was not major, nor did they have any say in the creation of the script or the movie, as there was NO CONTACT between the original creative team and the movie's creative team until April 12th at the earliest. As part of the deal with WB, it was agreed that there would be no negative public comments made about the movie. I can not violate any confidences, but I can assure you that the show's creative team was not thrilled with the movie's quality.
Let me make an important point. This strategy was not endorsed by the movie's creative team. Once the deals were signed, the original creative team were invited to the set and treated with the respect and courtesy that they deserved. In no way should the lawyer's action reflect on the character of Peter Segal or anyone else. However, that action did reflect on the movie's quality.
It's a shame that a ridiculous legal fight to increase the studio's profits stood in the way of allowing Stern, Brooks, and Henry the chance to consult before the major characterizations and plot points were established and shooting started. I firmly believe that if there wasn't such a negative backlash about their ignoring the original creative team, that none of this would have come about. I find it fascinating to suddenly hear the "new" history of this movie's creation, which includes a completely different attitude towards the original and its creators, as they backpedaled quicker than Bill Clinton after they found Monica's stained dress. It's quite a different story from what they were saying when production on this movie began, but it's gratifying to hear this turnaround. Everyone is now pretending that the lawsuit didn't exist and that everyone was on board with the movie from the start, but that's just not true and anyone who wants to look up WGA records or statements from Peter Segal before April 2007 can easily verify that. So let's be quite clear - this movie's concept was created and written WITHOUT ANY INPUT from the original creative team. Despite what publicists are trying to get you to believe, this movie featured Pete Segal's Get Smart, not Mel Brooks', Leonard Stern's, or Buck Henry's. It is up to you to decide whether Segal's version has the same style, class, and wit that characterized the original.
Copyright 1995-2009 Carl Birkmeyer
