The thing about Will Smith is that this Philly boy (Gigi's home town!) does make things look good or, at least, things better than they oughta be.  This is true for Men In Black (MIB).  Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty), MIB stars the suprisingly good together combo of Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith as secret agents who monitor alien activity on Earth.

In a sly move, the picture's premise is that thousands of aliens live peaceably among us due to some intergalactic witness protection program.  Apparently, the Men In Black keep these out-of-towners confined to New York City - like who'd notice them there  (ha, ha).  From the opening scene where an alien insect is winging its way around Anytown, USA and gets creamed on the windshield of a pick-up truck (Ain't life a bitch?), you know what you're in for in MIB.

But, of course, there's always one bad apple in the bunch - an evil alien (looking like a roach on Cybergenics) that wants to start a war with some other aliens by offing their leader and turning Club Earth into one big roach motel.  To disguise himself among the populace, this bug inhabits the body of some redneck farmer played by Vincent D'Onfrio who spends the entire movie looking like he ate some really bad shellfish.  It's hard to get too jazzed over a giant cockroach that wants to take over NYC -  I mean don't they already own it??

Linda Fiorentino also does a good job as a city coroner who suspects that some of the morgue's latest inhabitants are not entirely human.  She and Will Smith share some sexy banter and good on-screen chemistry here that Sonnenfeld does absolutely nothing with - we all know where the sex comes from in these action flicks - just check out how miffed Smith is by the size of his tiny ray gun. 

MIB was like many other summer blockbusters:  OVERHYPED.  Don't get me wrong - you'll have a okay time.  This somewhat lame flick is campy fun that doesn't take itself or the audience too seriously.  Everything is a goof - another ID4 (Smith's mega hit from last summer) this is not!!

Keep an eye out for what should be a great sci-fi flick opening July 11th - CONTACT.  It's based on Carl Sagen's novel and stars Jodie Foster.  The buzz on this movie is great -  check back here soon for Gigi's next review.