This films is an underachiever: it has a knockout premise (amply covered in other reviews, so I won't mention it here), a great cast, and Barry Sonnenfeld, one of the most innovative cinematographers ever to jump to directing. Yet it is ultimately unsatisfying. It makes the cut even though the film is less than the sum of the (considerable) parts.
The plot of the film doesn't seem to be up to the premise. Okay, so there are aliens and an alien cleanup squad in New York. Cool! But why is the film's story, the seach for a marble-sized galaxy, so uncompelling? Fortunately, there are many laughs, but this film, like Mars Attacks!, is not nearly as funny as it should be.
The cast could hardly be bettered. I have read many reviews which react with surprise at Tommy Lee Jones' facility for comedy. Didn't they see The Fugitive? He was and is very funny and deadpan. Will Smith is threatening to take over from Jack Nicholson as coolest person in the universe (Nicholson and Sean Connery have shared the honor over the last thirty years). Linda Fiorentino is also funny in a very understated role. She gets the film's best line: "I hate the living." As usual, Vincent D'Onofrio is unrecognizable. Slowly, he is assembling the strangest resume in the film business: he even outweirds Gary Oldman. All the bit actors are strong, particularly Rip Torn, Tony Shalhoub, and one of my favorites, Mike Nussbaum.
Danny Elfman is the only one who could have composed the score for this film. If he doesn't get an Oscar nomination, I'm going to go to Hollywood and kick some Academy butt. Barry Sonnenfeld has been involved with some of the funniest movies of the last ten years: Raising Arizona, Throw Momma From the Train, and Get Shorty. Here once again, his visual flair is matched by his sense of timing.
Others have suggested that this film is a great setup for a whole series of movies. I hope so: I would love to see a plot worthy of this film's premise. I only wish that they can get Tommy Lee Jones back.
Copyright 1997 by Dale G. Abersold
