Review of Men in Black (1934) by Manny C — 13 Jun 2012

Will Smith shouted 'Who's the man, huh?' in 1996's blockbuster Independence Day, and by the summer of 1997 with the release of Men In Black, the answer was undeniable: It was Smith himself. Anyone who saw Barry Sonnenfeld's action fantasy, laced with big laughs and dazzling effects, knew that.

Smith is indisputably cool in Men In Black, playing James Darrell Edwards III, a New York City street cop recruited by the feds to help chase otherworldly visitors, Smith turns in a fabulously smashing performance, a testament to his talent.

The movie too is wonderfully hilarious and witty. It centers on an unofficial government agency that defends Earth from alien scum, and teams Smith with the always reliable Tommy Lee Jones as veteran agent Kay. Jones is at his comedic best: coiled and wickedly funny. Unlike his hammy, competitive performance as Two-Face in Batman Forever, Jones complements Smith, making the two one of the greatest onscreen pairs in cinema history in my opinion, right up there with the likes of Redford and Newman. He counters Smith's sass with his own distinctive gruff, and director Sonnenfeld deftly orchestrates both in a perfect harmony. That they make it all look so easy just shows how terrific they both are.

Ditto the creature effects courtesy of effects wizard Rick Baker and Industrial Light and Magic. It's a wallop and all due to Sonenfeld and screenwriter Ed Solomon expertly adapting the little-known comic series created by Lowell Cunningham. Theirs is a script that keeps the proceedings grounded in character, so that we still care about these guys amid all of the creatures. When Kay tells Jay that there are literally thousand of alien species wandering our planet, he shrugs it off. 'Luckily,' say Kay. 'most of them are concentrated in Manhattan.' That 's the setting of MIB's secret headquarters, run by bossman Rip Torn, a place where visiting aliens are processed. The jokes from that premise come fast, but are too good to miss.

Then there's the hilarious notion that has the MIB rounding up aliens from actual tabloids. They zap witnesses with a pen device that erases their memories. Incredibly, Sonnenfeld manages to make all this seem real by piling on credible details, such as the sleek retro look of the MIB offices that evokes the 1960's, courtesy of production designer Bo Welch. They take similar route with the fashion, with the black suits, ties and shades. It's a kick to see Smith's fashion savvy cop putting on his Ray-Bans and quipping to Jones 'You know the difference between you and me? I make this look good.'.

Can't argue with that. Smith breathes the role. Jay is at first freaked out by the extraterrestrial shenanigans, which is understandable when you have to interrogate a suspect that has tentacles or blow off a guy's head who just grows a new one, or get wrapped up in a baby alien's gigantic tail and thrashed. There is of course a nefarious plot, involving a plan to destroy earth with a terrorist insect hat inhabits the body of a farmer (Vincent D'Onofrio, delivering a really amazing performance.).

In order to begin his new job, Jay must give up his life as a private citizen, which becomes doubly hard when he meets Dr. Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino), a deputy medical examiner. The scenes between the two are the stuff of cliches but Smith manages to transcend that with his signature finesse. Especially in his double take when a gun known as a noisy cricket destroys a whole city block.

Expertly shot by Don Peterman, the film plays out like a live action cartoon, sometimes too cartoonish, as Sonnenfeld has sometimes been in danger of becoming (see The Addams Family and Addams Family Values), but as he showed in the amazing Get Shorty, Sonnenfeld can imbue silliness with real character. Just see the scenes of Kay remembering his lost love. Even Sonnenfeld's knack for cinematography (see Big, Misery and Miller's Crossing) shines in Men In Black. Men In Black is perfect escapism. It doesn't insult your intelligence, propelled by real star power and great performances. More than twenty years later it's still capturing imaginations.