Contour At The Movies

Overall Impression — Yay!  Another dysfunctional family wedding movie.

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? — Kym.

What’s she trying to accomplish? – Professional: be a good guest at her sister’s wedding; Personal: deal with her issues while forming a new relationship with a new boyfriend; Private: deal with the ghost from her past of the car accident that killed her younger brother.

Who’s trying to stop her? — Her own demons, mostly.

What happens if she fails? — She ruins her sister’s wedding.

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan — Kym is just out of rehab and arrives as a person semi-non-grata at her sisters wedding.

Wanderer — She tries to figure out how to be a good sister and good guest, ultimately needing to learn that her sister’s wedding is NOT about her issues.

Warrior — When she can’t get the acceptance she craves, she becomes more erratic, eventually wrecking her father’s car.

Martyr — Kym gives up nothing, however her sister seems to kinda, sorta, accept Kym for who she is.  I think.

AND, IN THE END…

A cousin to MARGOT AT THE WEDDING, one of the first films I reviewed here .  Sadly, the same comment I wrote then holds true now: “Another great cast squandered with self-indulgent storytelling.   I’m not sure for whom this movie was made, but unpleasant characters running around saying and doing unpleasant things seems to me like something that would appeal to only a small handful of potential audience members. “

This is a movie which is made by a great director and with a performance by Anne Hathaway that is heralded by people who herald things as being Oscar worthy.  Whether it is or it isn’t, I can’t say.  All I know is that $10 million dollars in domestic ticket sales after 3 months of general release can’t be all wrong…if you know what I mean.

Overall Impression — At first I was embarrassed at how much I liked this movie, and then I realized that I had nothing to be ashamed about!

THE FOUR QUESTIONS

Who’s your main character? — Maxwell Smart.

What’s he trying to accomplish? — Prove that he’s a capable field agent, impress Agent 99, and save the city of Los Angeles.

Who’s trying to stop him? — Siegfried of KAOS.

What happens if he fails? — The city of Los Angeles will be destroyed by a bomb

THE FOUR ARCHETYPES

Orphan — Max is a highly regarded analyst but has failed the field agent test a number of times.  When he finally passes the test he still isn’t promoted because he’s too valuable at the office.  People think he’s a joke, he lives alone, and gets no respect from most of the other agents.

Wanderer — Max gets his big break, is partnered with Agent 99, and starts to pursue leads — all the while trying to figure out how to get 99 to open up to him and like him.

Warrior — In a brilliant switch over from wanderer to warrior, Max takes the “fight” to 99 and during a battle for supremacy on a ballroom dance floor.  She begins to respect him and they start bonding while getting closer to KAOS.

Martyr — Max is willing to sacrifice himself and his career (he’s been branded a double agent) in order to save the city.

AND, IN THE END…

I think the thing I like most about this movie was that the filmmakers didn’t take the easy (i.e. stoopid) way out.  It would have been too simple to make Max a total fool.  Instead, he’s a perceptive agent with great instincts (really heroic qualities) but lousy luck!  This makes him a perfect comic leading man.  We’re able to laugh with Max and sometimes at him, but without ever feeling guilty or cruel.

Philosopher Henri Bergson famously said that comedy requires “a momentary anesthesia of the heart”, which is true to an extent in GET SMART.  It’s easy to feel superior to a comic, inept character and it requires us to park our humanity for a short while to enjoy watching the pie hit the face.  Thanks to some deft character work all around, the anesthesia required to watch Max is more of a mild sedative.