Men in Black 4

Released in 1997 and directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, Men In Black is a funny comic book film which is successful in achieving its goals. For the uninitiated, the film follows the adventures of secret agents K and J (ie the men in black) (Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith) who are responsible for keeping tabs on resident aliens from outer space, especially an extraterrestrial bug which is masquerading in the skin of one Edgar (Vincent D'Onofrio) and looking for a massive energy source called the galaxy. The pair must stop the bug or the Earth will be destroyed. The supporting cast includes Linda Fiorentino as a mild love interest, Tony Shalhoub, David Cross, and Rip Torn as K and J's controller Zed. Viewers expecting a pure science fiction, alien film are missing the point as this movie is supposed to be light and true to is comic book origins. What makes it work is Tommy Lee Jones giving is typical larger than life straight performance teamed with Will Smith's persona and comedy. The bottom line is that Men In Black is a good and funny film for what it is and designed to be.