MEN IN BLACK
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: MEN IN BLACK is a smart, funny
tabloid-paranoia comedy about the hard-boiled G-men
who keep a lid the government's biggest secret.
That is the "fact" that not just one but many alien
races visit the Earth--mostly New York City--and
use it as an interstellar border-town and duty-free
shop. Humor and (impressive) special effects
rarely mix this well on the screen. Rating: +2 (-4
to +4), 7 (0 to 10)
Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment has turned a dubious premise into a delightful science fiction comedy. Taking much the same premise as TV's DARK SKIES, but handling it very differently, MEN IN BLACK tells the story of special, super-secret government agents charged with the responsibility for keeping the secret that at any given time there are about 1500 space aliens running around on Earth, natives of hundreds of different inhabited worlds. Most are friendly, but of course wherever there are lots of aliens there will always be a few rotten apples who want to vaporize the planet Earth for the greater glory of someone with a name like Zordalg. New York cop James Edwards (played by Will Smith) knows nothing of this, of course. He just knows that something is strange when he runs down a felon with funny eyes. This feat earns him a candidacy for some unspecified government job that turns out to be joining the Men in Black. Once chosen he is re- dubbed Agent J working with the experienced and cagey Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones).
Ed Solomon's script, based on the comic book by Lowell Cunningham, is a barrage of funny lines and scenes of just how strange things can be dealing with aliens. But all that is about the background for the real plot. The actual story gets very little screentime comparatively. The film is short as it is at 98 minutes and most of that time is taken up with the background. The actual story deals with two alien races fighting over the fate of a galaxy. One race is represented by an old Jewish man controlled by good-guy aliens. The other is an evil giant bug who possesses the body of the redneck Edgar. Vincent D'Onofrio plays the possessed Edgar, but like most people would be the first time behind the wheel of an 18-wheel truck, the creature just cannot get the hang of the controls. D'Onofrio is usually a serious actor, as he was in THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD, but here he shows a real genius for physical comedy. He manages to walk his human body around, but not one body part moves naturally. Because so much of the film is taken up with introduction to the premise this feels like the first film of series or perhaps a pilot for a film series. And if public enthusiasm remains high, sequels of some form seem inevitable. Director Barry Sonnenfeld is best known for directing the two Addams Family films and GET SHORTY. His Addams Family series was cut short by the death of Raoul Julia, but he now has another chance in much the same vein with MEN IN BLACK.
A manic film deserves a manic musical score, and manic scores are a specialty of Danny Elfman. It combines with good special effects and Rick Baker makeup and effects. In sum, MEN IN BLACK may well be one of the best films of this summer's fly-weight class. I give it a +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1997 Mark R. Leeper
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