"Men In Black" A Postview, copyright 1997 p-m agapow
This year's "Independence Day", hyped to all hell and back release: the Men in Black are shadowy agents who monitor alien activity on Earth, suppressing evidence that would alert the general public. The laconic Kay (Jones) initiates a new agent (Smith) while they chase a rouge alien, all three being in pursuit of a plot macguffin.
Reviewing the latest Big Movie Event is a fraught task. After a deluge of publicity (so omnipresent that even hitherto undiscovered tribes in the highlands of Myanmar can comment fluently on Will Smith's witticisms), anyone with even the slightest amount of cynicism would feel disappointment with the actual product. "Men in Black" doesn't measure up to its pre-publicity, what movie could? Like fashion, the movie business has become disconnected with its end product and in now largely about marketing the peripherals: the paraphernalia, the licensing, the toys, the image. More's the pity, because there is actually a quirky and very sly picture hiding under the curtain of hype.
The first clue that this is not the ultra-slick blockbuster that is being marketed, is the spidery lettering of the opening credit sequence. A camera dizzily follows a mosquito bumbling through a landscape of distorted, towering figures. Director Sonnenfeld is shooting from a point of view somewhere near Tim "Edward Scissorhands" Burton, seeing a world turned at 90 degrees to reality. (A comparison that is heightened by the Danny Elfman score.) In this way "Men in Black" is also reminiscent of Sonnenfeld's previous "Addams Family" or "Get Shorty", in that we see this weird world - blandly accepted by its inhabitants - and its collision with the "real" world.
As Agent Kay, Tommy Lee Jones is thus this film's Gomez Addams, completely unquestioning of his worldview. Jones is wonderfully hangdog, deadpanning throwaway lines as he shrugs off body stealing, alien invasion and world destruction. ("We're self-funding through holding the patents on several bits of alien technology we've acquired: microwave ovens, velcro, liposuction.") Will Smith, seemingly getting his acting inspiration from "Shaft", is less interesting but at least does not damage the picture. Linda Fiorentino, as a curious medical examiner, has some fun and is not wasted here as she was in "Unforgettable". Rip Torn contributes a minor but effective part as the leader of the Men in Black.
Entertainment-wise, the first half of the film is rich on laughs although of the surreal, dry type: Kay wrestles with a foot-high alien as onlookers stare. A group of agency initiates struggle with a test while trapped in a room full of dysfunctional 60s furniture. There are no punchlines are per se, it is the scenes that are funny. Regrettably this attitude takes a backseat as a conventional "find the magic widget" plot takes over at about the halfway point. This and some discrepancies between the trailer and the film make me suspect that there was some interference in the production. Fortunately, "Men in Black" does not outstay its welcome, tipping the scales at just over 1 and a half hours.
Not the blockbuster the studio might have wanted (and perhaps that's best), "Men in Black" is cute, quirky and recommended. Knock down the rating some if you're become sick of all the marketing. [***/interesting] and Steve Reich on the TV on the Sid and Nancy scale.
"Men in Black" Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld Starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Vincent D'Onofrio, Linda Fiorentino, Rip Torn. Released 1997.
------ paul-michael agapow (agapow@latcs1.oz.au), La Trobe Uni, Infocalypse "There is no adventure, there is no romance, there is only trouble and desire." [archived at http://www.cs.latrobe.edu.au/~agapow/Postviews/]
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews