The Best Movie Of Each Year From 1925-2025
29. 1997 - Men In Black
Honourable Mentions: Boogie Nights, Jackie Brown, L.A. Confidential
Men in Black is a perfect movie. Mr. Jones. Mr. Smith. Galaxy Defenders. Need I say more?
Nineties blockbusters don't get any better or more definitive, thanks to the ineffable appeal of Will Smith at his post-Fresh Prince peak, Tommy Lee Jones delivering an all-timer straight man routine, and Barry Sonnenfeld directing from a pitch-perfect Ed Solomon script. Add to the mix some defining practical and digital VFX work, a never-better Rip Torn and a legitimate tour-de-force example of physical comedy from Vincent D'Onofrio as Edgar the Bug, and you have a more-than-worthy entry in the pantheon of the decade's best, even when taking into account it premiered the same year as Boogie Nights, Jackie Brown, and L.A. Confidential.
The real splendour of Men in Black isn't just that it so effortlessly taps into the quirkiness of New York City or even that it includes the first (and best) Smith-fronted movie song accompaniment, but rather that it's so sincere. It is a comedy first and foremost, yes, but Sonnenfeld treats the material with the same affection he did with his Addams Family films. It has something of a Ghostbusters about it, in that way. Humour is present, and it is supremely funny, but it arrives organically from the premise and characters rather than from a place of insecurity that would only serve to undermine its foundations.
Our incredulous audience surrogate, Smith's Agent J, is charmed so completely and utterly into the world of MiB in the first act and with him so are we. Jones' stone-faced rigidity - which breaks in these sweet little moments of affection, humour, and vulnerability - proves the perfect pitch salesman for the world we're about to embark into, and it arrives in the form of an emotional plea that cements the duo's relationship as an all-timer in the buddy cop rankings.
Imagine what you'll know tomorrow.