'Men in Black' set out on an alien adventure

July 1, 1997
Web posted at: 11:37 p.m. EDT (0337 GMT)

From Correspondent Paul Vercammen

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- During last year's Fourth of July weekend, Will Smith and his band of aliens ruled the U.S. box office with "Independence Day." This year, Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return for more fireworks with "Men in Black," a lively extraterrestrial comedy.

The movie, inspired by the Lowell Cunningham comic book of the same name, features Smith and Jones as savvy, hip immigration agents who join forces to monitor Earth's alien population.

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CNN's PAUL VERCAMMEN reports VXtreme streaming video
	(2M/50 sec. Men in Black movie trailer (short) QuickTime movie)
	(5.5M/2 min. 20sec. Men in Black movie trailer (long) QuickTime movie)

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Smith, who made his big screen debut in 1993's "Six Degrees of Separation," calls the movie a "great concept," and movie veteran Jones says it's "just really cool."

Despite their different showbiz backgrounds, Jones, who won the best supporting actor Oscar in 1994 for "The Fugitive," and Smith, who starred in TV's "Fresh Prince of Bel Air" for six years, found they have more in common than just common last names.

Jones compares working together to being on the same football team. "He'd probably be a tight end, and I'd be a tackle," he said.

Smith describes their first meeting: "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jones ... and he was laying back with his cowboy boots and he had a stogie and his cowboy hat on .. and he was like, 'Hey, nice to meet you ... Will ... you know that "Fresh Prince" is damn funny.'"

"That's what he said," insists Smith.

Linda Fiorentino joined the team as the movie's medical examiner. She glowingly describes the special effects.

"The little green man inside the head ... that was amazing ... the body, the cadaver, looked more real than most men I've gone out with," she said.

With its wealth of special effects and menagerie of aliens, the movie hopes to dazzle summer audiences.

"We want people to just throw their disbelief away, because it is so much fun to believe in these gadgets and the aliens," Jones said.

In one memorable scene, Jones nonchalantly pours himself a cup of joe while lizard-like aliens greet him. "It's not decaf, is it?" asks Jones. "Viennese cinammon," responds one of the helpful creatures.

And while it may play in Peoria, director Barry Sonnenfeld, whose credits include "Get Shorty" and "The Addams Family," believes the film will succeed overseas, but wants accurate interpretation of dry humor. Specifically, he is concerned that the movie be dubbed accurately.

Smith, meanwhile, hopes that this year's Independence Day weekend will mirror the success of last year's.

"You know any studio that releases a movie on the Fourth of July -- they have to pay me. That's my weekend," Smith joked.

 

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