Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D’Onofrio
Have I Seen it Before: Oh, sure. While producing The Fourth Wall I had avoided watching it as the Venn diagram might interfere with the process. In fact, I think the DVD currently on my shelf was one of the first DVDs I ever owned.
Did I Like It: It was a strange experience watching this in the summer of 2022. This was the first time since the infamous Academy Awards slap that I’ve taken in a movie starring Smith, and when J first appears on screen, I had some kind of reaction to seeing him again. It wasn’t the return of a conquering hero, or the dread of seeing an aggressor at his prime. It was a degree of annoyance. It certainly seems like Chris Rock suffered no permanent injury, so I could really go the rest of my life without hearing about it. If I’m not alone in that assessment, one does wonder what shape Smith’s career as a movie star will take from here.
There’s nothing wrong with the film itself, but I think even in the 90s I had the sense that this was an exercise in half measures. It’s funny enough, but there are comedies—even high-concept ones—with a far higher laugh-to-miss ratio. The action is engaging enough, but I don’t even have to think all that hard to trip over more suspenseful action movies, even in the summer of 1997*. Ultimately, as a science fiction piece it could stand to be a fair sight weirder than it ends up being. Ultimately, the film is a near-perfect case study in making a big entertainment designed to not offend anyone, but never quite thrill anyone either. Whenever I see a bland monstrosity (including especially the sequels and spin-offs which were to follow in this franchise), I can’t help but wonder what movies might look like now if we hadn’t so thoroughly over-validated this one. back in the day.
*I’m looking in your direction, Con Air and Air Force One.