Men in Black **** (1997, Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Rip Torn, Linda Fiorentino) – Classic Movie Review 631

Barry Sonnenfeld’s witty, sassy and funny 1997 sci-fi fantasy comedy Men in Black proves just the right stuff for kings of cool Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones plus canny director Sonnenfeld, who goes at it fast and furious.

Smith and Jones have great chemistry together as Jay and Kay, the sun-glassed, black-suited secret agents tackling zillions of nasty aliens who have managed to effect a secret invasion of Earth. They are just the right men to protect the Earth from the scum of the universe. A labour of love, Men in Black is very well made with a most superior production (art director Bo Welch and set decorator Cheryl Carasik were Oscar nominated) and super effects (Rick Baker and David LeRoy Anderson  won a deserved Oscar for Best Makeup).

But perhaps best of all is the very clever screenplay that they have started with, based on the comic book by Lowell Cunningham. Thank you Ed Solomon, the writer of Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and Charlie’s Angels. Danny Elfman’s Oscar-nominated score for Best Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score is a further asset.

Linda Fiorentino (as Laurel), Rip Torn (as Zed), Vincent D’Onofrio (as Edgar) and Tony Shalhoub (as Jeebs) co-star, along with Siobhan Fallon, Mike Nussbaum, Jon Gries, Sergio Calderon, Carel Struycken, Fredric Lehne, Richard Hamilton, John Alexander, Keith Campbell and Ken Thorley.

Men in Black proved a sleek, slick, superbly entertaining monster hit, grossing $250,690,539 in the US and with a cumulative worldwide gross of $589,390,539. A sequel, Men in Black II, followed in 2002 and, after a long gap, Men in Black 3 in 2012.

It was rebooted as Men in Black: International in 2019.

Men in Black is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, runs 98 minutes, is made by Columbia Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Parkes+MacDonald Image Nation, is released by Columbia Pictures, is written by Ed Solomon, is shot bu Don Peterman, is produced by Laurie MacDonald and Walter F Parkes, is scored by Danny Elfman and is designed by Bo Welch.

RIP Rip [Elmore] Torn (1931 – 2019). He was nominated for a Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar for Cross Creek (1983) and won the 1996 Primetime Emmy as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for playing Artie in The Larry Sanders Show.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 631 derekwinnert.com