Men in Black (movie)

Men in Black is a 1997 science fiction comedy action film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, starring Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith and Vincent D'Onofrio. The film was based on the Men in Black comic books of Lowell Cunningham and featuring the creature animation of Rick Baker.

Plot details

A secretive agency, originally part of the government but now apparently a private organization ("the government asks too many questions", explains Agent K), allows aliens onto the planet and monitors them while here. The movie follows an NYPD officer (Will Smith) as he becomes a part of MiB, and his first major mission. Tommy Lee Jones plays 'K', a senior MiB agent who guides 'J' (the code-name assigned to Smith) as he learns the ropes.

Representatives of this agency wear sunglasses and dark suits, and appear at UFO landing sites, similar to reported Men In Black. Instead of intimidating or threatening witnesses, the MiB use devices known as Neuralyzers to wipe their memories and suggest more mundane causes to the encounter (or anything else the agents think of). Neuralyzers are typically the size and shape of an oversized pen (although a giant version is seen in the second movie hidden in the Statue of Liberty's torch), and can be set to erase memories as far back as several years. Neuralizers are also used on agents who leave the organization for any reason. The MiB's sunglasses protect them from the effects of the Neuralyzer.

A Bug (an alien species, similar in many ways to a very large cockroach) is trying to steal a tiny galaxy from another alien—whose government is willing to have the earth destroyed rather than let this galaxy fall into the hands of the Bugs. Eventually, the Galaxy is recovered, and K asks J to neuralyze him so that he can retire.

Cast and roles include

• Tommy Lee Jones – MiB agent K
• Will Smith – James Edwards/ MiB agent J
• Linda Fiorentino – Dr. Laurel Weaver/ MiB agent L
• Vincent D'Onofrio – Edgar
• Rip Torn – MiB chief Zed
• Tony Shalhoub – Jack Jeebs
• Siobhan Fallon – Beatrice, Edgar's wife
• Mike Nussbaum – Gentle Rosenburg, Arquillian jeweler
• Jon Gries – Nick, van driver
• Sergio Calderón – Jose
• Carel Struycken – Arquillian
• Fredric Lehne – INS agent Janus
• Richard Hamilton – MiB agent D, K's first partner
• Kent Faulcon – 2nd Lt. Jake Jensen
• John Alexander – Mikey
• Keith Campbell – Perp
• Ken Thorley – Zap-Em exterminator
• Patrick Breen – Reggie Redgick
• Becky Ann Baker – Mrs. Redgick
• Sean Whalen – passport officer
• Harsh Nayyar – Manny, news vendor
• Michael Willis – cop in morgue
• Willie C. Carpenter – police inspector
• Peter Linari – tow truck driver
• David Cross – Newton, morgue attendant
• Charles C. Stevenson Jr. – MiB agent B
• Boris Leskin – cook
• Steve Rankin – INS agent
• Andy Prosky – INS agent
• Michael Goldfinger – NYPD sergeant at Edwards' interrogation
• Alpheus Merchant – security guard
• Bernard Gilkey – baseball player
• Sean Plummer – first contact alien
• Michael Kaliski – first contact alien
• Richard Arthur – 2nd first contact alien
• Debbie Lee Carrington – alien father
• Verne Troyer – alien son
• Mykal Wayne Williams – scared guy
• Tim Blaney – Frank the pug (voice)
• Mark Setrakian – Rosenberg alien (voice)
• Brad Abrell – worm guy (voice)
• Thom Fountain – worm guy (voice)
• Carl J. Johnson – worm guy (voice)
• Drew Massey – worm guy (voice)
• John Darrah – army officer (uncredited)
• Karen Lynn Gorney – announcer (uncredited)
• Patricia McPherson – K's wife (uncredited)
• Stephanie Paliferro – INS agent (uncredited)
• Joe Paparone – police inspector (uncredited)

Music

• Danny Elfman – original music
• Will Smith – song

Miscellaneous

As a play on this shadowy anonymity, movie posters identified the two principal actors simply as "Mr. Jones" and "Mr. Smith", two extremely common surnames in English-speaking countries.

At one point, K shows J a screen following several "identified aliens". They include:

• Chloe Sonnenfeld (uncredited)
• Norma Jean Groh – Mrs. Irma Edelson, said to be Edwards' alien teacher
• Al Roker
• Steven Spielberg
• Sylvester Stallone

Filming locations include

• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City
• Unisphere, Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, Queens, New York City

Sequels

An animated television series followed, based closely on the style of the movie. Men in Black: The Series

The movie sequel Men in Black II or (M.II.B.) was released in summer 2002, which had the memory of Jones' character restored so he could battle new threats alongside his former partner.

See also

• Men in Black

External links

• Men in Black at the Internet Movie Database
• alt.fan.men-in-black (Usenet newsgroup)
• MIBHQ.com One of the last large informational pages for the Men In Black franchise concerning the films, animated series, and more. Fan-based.