Can Old-School Jewish Humor Survive in the Future?

Get Smart is essentially the comedy equivalent of one of William Gibson's recent novels. It's present-day science fiction, filled with superspies and high-tech gadgets that just might exist in real life if you squint. Looked at from that perspective, you'd think the film would be a slam-dunk. Steve Carell plays the nerdy klutz Maxwell Smart who saves the world, Heroes' Masi Oka has a bit part as the cute engineer who makes a buggy cone of silence, and kicky Anne Hathaway plays Maxwell's sidekick Agent 99. And the tone of the flick is generally true to Mel Brooks and Buck Henry's original schmendrick-as-hero tone. So what made this fun little movie movie fall short? I think it's because the old-school Catskills Jewish humor of the original clashes so intensely with what is ultimately a zany, futuristic tale. (Spoilers ahead.) More »