Jared's Pick - Movie Reviews: Men In Black

Men In Black

The problem with movie critics is their enormously bloated egos. Hell, in Roger Ebert's case it's manifested physically. A bunch of pasty, bespeckled scribblers, they believe that their opinions are more valid than yours just because more people hear it. And it's always fun to be the one dissenting voice, the prophet howling in the wilderness, the only guy at the Oscars who hated The English Patient. Trashing movies that rake in millions at the box office gives these people a feeling of avante-guard wisdom - the one exception being Joel Siegel of "Good Morning America", that Hollywood pimp who is apparently still so impressed by the concept of "moving pictures" that he raves about anything put to celluloid.

I'm not immune to the infectious wiser-than-thou syndrome, but in the case of Men In Black, the raving you've heard is true. The movie doesn't try to be subversive, isn't out to change perceptions or sweep the Oscars - Men In Black just wants to entertain, and does so admirably.

It's simply fun, and with the star power of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, Men in Black really is the action hit of the summer. Face/Off is more powerful and psychologically thrilling, Contact more intelligent and provocative, but for plain laughs and sheer entertainment value, Smith/Jones have got it cold.

Smith is looking more like the big screen King than the Fresh Prince these days; his comic flair is undeniably charming, and he steals every scene in which he appears. It helps that Jones is a surprisingly perfect straight man - his dour, dry delivery is a hilarious foil for Smith's bug-eyed double takes, and the two play off each other in a dovetailed comedic ballet that is a pleasure to watch.

The special effects are predictably impressive, but unlike The Lost World, MIB's monsters are secondary to characterization - the aliens are cool, but the secret agents are cooler. Jones in particular goes about protecting the earth from extraterrestrial scum with businesslike efficiency, erasing witnesses' memories in his wake with a pen that zaps out their cortexes.

Wacky details like the flashy-pen and cricket gun (Smith's dime sized pistol with the power of a Sherman tank) keep MIB rolling along at warp speed. The agency gets tips on alien activity from the National Enquirer (what Jones calls "the best investigative journalism on the planet") and monitors aliens in human form on-screen at headquarters - Newt Gingrich and Steven Spielberg are displayed among others.

Cinematography by the same man who cut his teeth with the Coen Brothers (Barton Fink, Fargo) gives Men In Black a dark feel, adding just enough veracity to ground the comic book nature of the film.

The main thrust of the movie finds Smith and Jones tracking down a "bug" out to destroy the planet, an alien who has sucked out the innards of a farmer and wears his skin like a cheap polyester suit (Vincent D'Onofrio in a stiff-legged, disturbing, terrific performance). The chase is fast and funny - almost too fast. At 90 minutes, Men In Black is over too soon. I wanted more interplay between Smith and Jones, more techno-wizardry and drooling E.T.'s, but I would have felt that way even if the movie had been two hours long; I was enjoying myself, and didn't want it to end. Men In Black is the most fun the galaxy has offered this summer.

- Jared O'Connor

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