Get Smart
June 20

Mel Brooks has already recycled The Producers, Young Frankenstein and—in the form of an animated TV series—Spaceballs, but he receives only “characters by” credit for this update of his beloved Nick at Nite standby. As the bumbling Maxwell Smart, Steve Carell makes a terrific substitute for Don Adams, and his Oscar ripostes with Anne Hathaway suggest she’ll be a fine Agent 99. In descending numerical order, other cast members include Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Agent 23 and Bill Murray as Agent 13; Ken Davitian (Azamat in Borat) costars as Shtarker. The movie could be either hilarious or dire, but director Peter Segal demonstrated a flair for slapstick in The Naked Gun 33 1/3.

CLOWN OPINION
Alawada the clown (a.k.a. Sean L. Gardiner), Let the World Know (773-643-5169, let-the-world-know.com)

Monday through Friday, Gardiner manages the motley crew of DJs, magicians and gorilla-clad telegram deliverers of Let the World Know party rentals. On weekends, he transforms into Alawada—Nigerian for “funny and amusing”—the dancing, face-painting, balloon-sculpting, shades-wearing clown.

Reasons to be hopeful “I like Steve Carell and I don’t remember who plays 99, but she was pretty cute.”

Possible pitfalls “I honestly can’t say that it moved me enough to call it a must-see. There was just nothing in that trailer that jumped out at me. Get Smart is a comedy [but] nothing made me laugh.”

Steve Carell clown name? “Goofy the Clown”

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