No chemistry? To me they mark the most inspired cinematic double-act since Gibson 'n' Glover...

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2001)

(SPOILERS)
It's happened with all the great double-acts, both cinematic and otherwise, one is zany and madcap whilst the other acts as a foil for his more expressive partner. So it is here. Tommy Lee Jones underplays almost every line given to him here and allows Smith to act it up in his role. Both are marvellous. Of course it helps that the script is achingly sharp, with scarcely a line wasted, but Jones interpretation of the part is so perfect that he invests even seemingly unimportant lines with just the right amounts of lightness and gravitas. Witness as evidence his opening line: "We'll take it from here...". It truly has to be seen to be appreciated just how gut-bustingly funny Jones makes these words seem with his deadpan delivery. In my opinion, the finest comedy debut by a 'serious' actor since Jeff Daniels gave his hilarious turn in "Dumb & Dumber.
We all know Smith can do comedy. Even those of you who don't like his brand of humour can probably appreciate why some people find him funny. Put simply, if you like his style, you'll like this, since he doesn't change much from the characters we found in ID4, "The Fresh Prince..." et al. Hey, I'm not complaining though, he's perfectly suited to the style of movie that MIB is.
There are very few easy laughs in MIB's script, which is probably why I think it's one of the funniest comedies in years. You have to listen to the dialogue and delivery to extract maximum amusement from the situation. Classic example: Smith is talking to K in the elevator before he becomes a recruit: J: "I don't wanna be known as 'kid', 'sport', 'son', 'junior'..." K: "Sure, whatever you say Slick". There could have been a temptation in a comedy such as this to let the effects get the laughs and to neglect the script. Thankfully, this wasn't done. The effects are there to augment the comedy, not provide it. (Kudos to Rick Baker by the way, for his stunning creations.) I have to conclude that the majority of people who didn't find this funny probably weren't paying enough attention! View again carefully and see if I'm right, if you still don't like it, then I've obviously just got a totally different sense of humour to you!
To sum up, I think this is a fantastic film in all departments that showed us just how funny the Smith/Jones partnership could be when given the opportunity to work together on such quality material. I said in my summary the best screen pairing since Gibson 'n' Glover. That double-act also conforms to the expectations given at the start of the review. I would have mentioned Carrey 'n' Daniels instead, except I feel that Jim's performance was ever so slightly overdone in that movie. Ah well. that's a whole 'nother subject! Roll on MIB2!