Nice, silly fun

Rating: 8/10 (25 February 1999)

I had reservations about this, since I didn't like Will Smith's last alien movie, INDEPENDENCE DAY, but then I saw part of a rough cut and became interested. Seeing it in theaters, I liked it, though with some reservations. Vincent D'Onofrio is a good actor, but all the scenes with him when he became the alien felt like they were dragging down the movie, and the alien didn't look very good either. And Linda Fiorentino was wasted on her role, except for the scene where Smith thinks she's coming on to him, and the last scene.
Still, this was fun. I liked all the satirical pieces and the New York jokes, and I liked the way Smith and Tommy Lee Jones worked together. As he proved with the two ADDAMS FAMILY movies, Barry Sonnenfeld knows that wacky humor comes off best when it's played as completely normal (especially Jones' reaction when Smith tells him the suspect he chased said the world was coming to an end; "Did he say when?"). Overall, I enjoyed it.