Men In Black

Movie Name: Men in Black

Year of Release: 1997

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Stars: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, Mike Nussbaum, Jon Gries, Siobhan Fallon

Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Sci-Fi

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7
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Synopsis & Review:

Barry Sonnenfeld's 90s winning streak hit its peak with "Men in Black" in 1997, the second biggest hit of the year behind James Cameron's "Titanic". The film is an adaptation of Lowell Cunningham's comic book and focuses on the story of the agency MiB, the Men in Black, an agency who tracks extra terrestrial existence on Earth. One of his senior agents, by the name of Kay, recruits a young and impulsive New York officer, who becomes his partner, by the name of Jay. Their first mission is to save the universe and the galaxy from an alien entity under the name of "Bug".
Barry Sonnenfeld's most successful films have, thus far, found the perfect balance between comedy and action, making for a fresh and unique take on genres that fall prey to generic cliches much too often. "Men in Black" is by far his most well known franchise (closely followed by "The Adams Family"), and achieves the perfect balance of having the sleuth and detective type of story, combined with the allure of science fiction, which brings the whole undercurrent of irony and comedy to the front. The film doesn't take itself seriously, and has fun playing with conventions and expected scenarios, twisting both of them and throwing everything into disarray. This allows for the actors, particularly Tommy Lee Jones, and his traditionally intense and monolithic persona to shine through in a role that is tailor suited for him. The film also benefits from the fantastic effects from Rick Baker (who won another Oscar for this film), production design from the awesome Bo Welch (who has worked with Tim Burton) and score from Danny Elfman (another Tim Burton collaborator). A very good film always worth checking out!