This weekend -- get smart :)

I watched this movie the weekend it was released, and strongly recommend you to watch it for some laughs.

For my review, I think it is best I post the email I wrote to NPR after watching the movie.

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Subject: Get Smart's Bad Review Completely Unfair

Dear Hosts,

I am an avid listener to NPR, on the radio as well as online. The one trait I greatly admire about NPR, in this day of biased main-stream media, is its _objectivity_. Therefore, if I hear a movie review on NPR, I trust it.

However, I was in for a rude shock last evening, when I went to watch "Get Smart [IMDB]" with some friends. Since I had heard NPR critic Kenneth Turan's extremely unfavorable review of the movie, I was hesitant in going for it.

To my surprise, I ended up loving the movie, and found the humor to be very well-times and good quality. I understand how disappointed Mr Turan was to see his childhood buffoon get smart [pun intended], but the people whom I went with had also enjoyed the TV series, and they LOVED the movie.

As someone who creates comedy [I was the founding-director of the first Indian improv comedy troupe at USC ], I can understand how tough it is to make good comedy, and that a comedy cannot stand on slapstick and vulgarity alone. "Get Smart" did that for me -- it was entertaining, and did not leave a bad taste in my mouth. We all stepped out of the theatre laughing and in a good mood.

Bad reviews, especially as bad as the one I heard on NPR that day, can hurt a movie's business. I would strongly urge Mr. Turan to not use his own expectations to provide a subjective review, but aspire to give an objective one.

Best wishes,
Animesh Pathak
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cheers,
-A