'Men in Black': A colorful spin through alien territory
'Men in Black': A colorful spin through alien territory
By Bruce Emond
JAKARTA (JP): The U.S. has an immigration problem, and it has
nothing to do with the world's have-nots desperately trying to
grab a piece of the American pie.
These unwanted guests are aliens, grotesque monsters with
deadly powers, which are threatening the stability of planet
Earth. So runs the premise of Barry Sonnenfeld's Men in Black, a
huge surprise hit on release in the U.S. last summer.
It is easy to see why -- the special effects are stunning, the
monsters frighteningly lifelike, the pace fast and furious, the
sprite humor just enough to counter the occasionally staggering
violence. But a chorus line of alternately cutesy and threatening
critters does not make for exceptional moviemaking.
There is no denying it will keep you in your seat as it
hurtles along on its breathtaking pace. But its entertainment
quotient is dependent on the ability to forgive glaring lapses in
feasibility (easily done), and a simple plot line which becomes
unnecessarily tangled and drags towards the end (not so easy).
K (Tommy Lee Jones) is a stoic, by-the-book agent of a
division of Immigration and Naturalization Services set up in the
1950s to deal with space aliens. The agency conducts its
activities surreptiously, keeping the aliens in line through a
sophisticated tracking system and leaving the world's mortal
population blissfully unaware of the bizarre life forms living in
their midst.
The imminent landing of a destructive alien bent on destroying
the world has put the agency on red alert. This alien lands in a
Pennsylvania cow patch and assumes the human form of the abusive,
dim-witted farmer Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio), who lives with his
wife as American Gothic personified.
K's daunting assignment is to neutralize Edgar the monster but
time is running out. He needs a partner, which leads to rigorous
testing of the best of the U.S. military academies, plus one odd
man out, J, a raw New York city police offer.
While the other candidates are wooden yes-men, J (Will Smith)
is glaringly unhindered by the dictates of protocol. While the
others struggle over using a pen and paper with nothing to prop
them against, J grabs a table and hauls it over to his chair. In
a simulated shoot-out with alien terrorists, J picks off the
figure of a innocent young girl in pigtails carrying her
schoolbooks because, he argues, "no little white girl would be
walking around Harlem looking like that".
For his zany ability to think for himself, he is offered the
job of K's partner. It comes with a troubling catch. In addition
to wearing the standard uniform of black suits and dark shades, J
must also agree to give up all relationships on the outside. A
potentially serious detour in the film's supremely lite pace is
resolved tritely, with one shot of him gazing wistfully over the
East River.
Agent J is now on board, and thus begins the chase for the
rabid Edgar, riding around in a souped-up pest exterminator van.
Along the way, a devoted cat, beautiful coroner (Linda
Fiorentino) and thrilling face-off at the site of the 1938
World's Fair are thrown into the cinematic pile.
In his previous movies, including Throw Momma from the Train
and both Addams Family flicks, Sonnenberg showed his skill at
black comedy. He does it again in Men in Black, nimbly walking
the fine line between overkill (literally) and a beguiling comic
charm which tells viewers it is all in fun.
Smith, best-known for his long-running role as TV's Fresh
Prince of Bel Air, is fed the best lines, playing up the cop's
naivete and rough edges. But the real highlight is Jones,
undoubtedly one of the most talented actors of his generation
(witness his mincing tour-de-force as the fey homosexual in
Oliver Stone's JFK).
He subtly sends up the role of the tenacious detective in The
Fugitive; his K is a tough guy with a soft center, a man who can
swap stories and devour eggs rolls before effortlessly jumping
back into his dour agent's demeanor. Despite Smith's
grandstanding, Jones is the actor to watch.
Fiorentino has a thankless role as Laurel, the token female
interest, sitting around in the morgue waiting for something to
happen. But with her larger-than-life persona and reputation
preceding her from her steamy turn in The Seduction, she can
still manage to milk a few laughs.
As she points desperately to the floor where Edgar lies
concealed on a stretcher, K gets a mixed message of amorous
intentions. Laurel forgets her life-or-death predicament to
launch into a feminist tirade of the double standards on gender
and sexuality. Fiorentino seizes on this brief moment to shine,
and pulls off one of the funniest snippets in the movie.
Men in Black entertains throughout but inexplicably loses
steam towards the end. It is then that one realizes the
significance of its adaptation from a little-known comic strip.
This may be a brilliant homage to visual and special effects
technology, but the stunning vignettes are difficult to string
together successfully in a full-length movie.
And the insidious presence of executive producer Steven
Spielberg is always apparent. As the myriad product placements
and a veritable conveyor belt of aliens, large and small, pass
before the eyes, thoughts can only turn to the merchandise spin-
offs soon to be decorating the malls. You've been warned.