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There's a secret gouvernment organisation out there that controls alien immigration and activity, the titular Men in Black, and that nobody knows about the organisation and only few even suspect alien activity is thanks to a device that is able to erase once memory, at least partially. Kay (Tommy Lee Jones) is one of the top agents of the Men in Black, but since his old partner has retired he needs a new one - whom he finds in NYPD cop Jay (Will Smith), who has shown his worth because he could outrun an alien on foot (?), and who after being told he has to break up with pretty much his former life in total and isn't supposed to have any social life outside work and walk in the shadows thinks it's a pretty good idea to go hunt aliens (?). And soon enough the two are after an alien baddie who has possessed redneck farmer Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio) and who's after something called "The Galaxy", which in his hands could throw the universe into war and see earth destroyed. "The Galaxy" is actually a gem carried by a cat who formerly belonged to a Jewish pawnbroker (Mike Nussbaum) who was actually extraterrestrial royalty. The cat presently is at the morgue the pawnbroker was delivered to, where Jay soon starts romancing medical examiner Laurel (Linda Fiorentino). But of course, everything ultimately leads to chaos and spectacle ...

Ok, the good first,Tommy Lee Jones is brilliant in his role, playing the straight guy to Will Smith's (supposed) funnyman without even a hint of irony - which gets him all the laughs. Also, the effects are pretty awesome and do stand the test of time. On the not so good side, Will Smith seems to be unsure whether to kick into comedy or action hero mode, so he does an in-between that never really takes off. As for the rest of the cast - hardly anyone shines, which is also owed to the paperthin characters everyone is afforded, and especially Vincent D'Onofrio as the main villain is disappointingly bland. What really lets the film down though is its script, which really doesn't care much about build-up or character motivations, as long as it can chase from one spectacle to the next. That said, at least the film does deliver on the spectacle side (enough to make this a smash hit at the box office), but one can only wonder how good this could have been with a thought-through and genuinely funny script.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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