Men in Black

Men in Black has quietly become one of the more dependable comedies currently available in Australia on Stan, and in the US on Peacock Premium and YouTube TV. It says what it needs to say in one sitting, no filler. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Tommy Lee Jones sets the tone, and the rest of the cast matches it scene for scene. Available now on Stan — press play and find out why people keep recommending it.

Men in Black arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. The jokes in Men in Black land because the characters underneath them are worth caring about. After a police chase with an otherworldly being, a New York City cop is recruited as an agent in a top-secret organization established to monitor and police alien activity on Earth: the Men in Black. Agent K and new recruit Agent J find themselves in the middle of a deadly plot by an intergalactic terrorist who has arrived on Earth to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies. Between them, Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith carry the comedy without ever forcing it. It hit screens in 1997. Men in Black earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Men in Black is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It has built its own audience without needing a direct comparison. The complete film is available and best experienced without too much prior knowledge of where it goes. Tommy Lee Jones's comic timing carries it through its weaker moments. The kind of comedy you recommend to someone who claims they do not watch much.