Has it already been nine years since this came out?

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2006)

After his malefic, stereotypical performance in "Independence Day", it's a good thing that Will Smith then starred in the farce "Men in Black". Every part of this movie is just so cool, with Tommy Lee Jones as the straightforward government agent recruiting hip Smith to be his partner keeping aliens in line. It's hard to believe that it's already been nearly a decade since this movie first wowed us, but I guess that we should have seen it coming. As it was, it was thanks to "MIB" that I realized that Barry Sonnenfeld is a different person from Barry Levinson.
Anyway, this is just a really neat movie. Too bad that Sonnenfeld followed it up with "Wild Wild West". Vincent D'Onofrio looks hilariously grotesque here as the alien masquerading as a human. Also starring Linda Fiorentino, Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub and Carl Struycken (Lurch in the "Addams Family" movies, also directed by Sonnenfeld).