"Men In Black"
What is it about?
An NYPD officer gets recruited to the most secretive agency out there - a group charged with monitoring extra-terrestrial activity on Planet Earth.
How are the top performances?
WILL SMITH as Agent J
There is a reason that Will Smith is arguably the most bankable box office star in the world. And this is a classic example. Will Smith once said that the secret to his success was: "White people like me." I don't think it's as simple as that, but he's on the right track.
In his second major production as the lead in a big tentpole (the first being the classic Independence Day), he carries all the swagger of somebody who has been doing this for years. He knows how to hit each note. He's funny, cool, calm, collected and absolutely knows what to do when he has a big line.
He plays brilliantly off Tommy Lee Jones as his easy-going charm leads him to jump from here to one of the most successful careers in the history of Hollywood. Well deserved.
TOMMY LEE JONES as Agent K
While Will Smith is indisputably the star of the show, Tommy Lee Jones very nearly steals it right from under him. His character is the polar opposite of Will Smith's smooth Agent J. He's as droll and dry as can be, and it is the perfect note.
The way he strolls around stone-faced while alien worms are making coffee, or how casually he mentions that Elvis was an alien and went back home is exactly what this movie needed. I really can not think of how this film could have possibly been casted more perfectly.
What's any good about it?
It all starts with the script. The script is so much smarter and wittier than it gets credit for.
It's almost as if history has dismissed this as a silly alien sci-fi romp, but it's really quite brilliant and holds up well to most mainstream comedies.
Not only that, but the movie weaves in a fun little mystery.
You also really can not beat the banter back and forth between Smith and Jones.
The best moments include:
Tommy Lee Jones' "fake names" for Will Smith: "Agent Black" and "Agent White".
(They enter a morgue run by a hot brunette to see a crazy-looking alien dead body)
Jones: "What do you think?"
Smith: "She got a real Queen of the Undead kind of thing going on."
Jones: "I mean the body."
Smith: "Great body."
Jones: "The DEAD body."
Who doesn't love the talking pug?
"K, you ever flashy-thinged me?"
Will Smith's expanded "new memory" for the hillbilly housewife: "...and hire a decorator and quick cause...DAMN."
"8 year old white girl, middle of the ghetto with Quantum Physics books? Those books are WAY too advanced for her. She's up to some shit, Zed. And to be honest I'd appreciate if you eased up off my back about it."
"Unlimited technology from across the universe and we're cruising around in a Ford P.O.S."
And how about how surprisingly DEEP the ending is??? It pans back to show that our entire universe is nothing but a tiny marble in a bag being played with by other aliens. Really makes you think.
Do you have any complaints, you whiny bitch who complains about everything?
I have no complaints. It is not winning Best Picture anytime soon, but you can make a case that is the best summer epic action movie ever made. It accomplishes everything it tries to do.
Best Scene
At the beginning of the movie, there is a phenomenal joke where Agent K explains that the National Enquirer, World Weekly News and all the other trashy publications are the "best investigative reporting on the planet". And we see that all of their ridiculous stories of aliens are actually true, but we dismiss it as fiction.
Throughout the film it is revealed that the reason Tommy Lee Jones is so angry and grumpy all the time is because he left his wife that he loved in order to serve the Men in Black.
Once he is neuralized by Will Smith, Smith is in NYC picking up the papers and sees a headline that says: MAN AWAKENS FROM COMA AFTER 40 YEARS with Agent K smiling with his wife. Really, truly wonderful and surprisingly emotional.
Final Thoughts
Very high recommendation for one of the best summer action events ever. The movie has enough action to settle the action idiots, enough comedy to satisfy everyone, and enough smart comedy to satisfy even the most snarky d-bag like me.
And it launches one of the biggest stars on the planet. What more do you want?
Bobby Grade: A
Great Quote
"When you've been driven off a bridge at 85 miles per hour, you don't allow happiness in without a full body search."
---David Aames (Tom Cruise), Vanilla Sky
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