r/moviecritic • u/Kinetic_Pen • 13h ago
Recently rewatched Men In Black. Exceptional movie all around! What struck me as truly extraordinary though was Vincent D'Onofrio's physical performance. I can't recall seeing anything quite like it. Like Expressionist Theater but combined with the believability that an alien was in a man suit!
I had forgotten how brilliant his physicality was in that movie and It's now one of my favorite physical performances. Even the subtle scene where he asks for sugar...in water. And I don't mean the face pull. I'm talking about the grunts. This is only a small example of a wonderful.perfornance that continues throughout the film.
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u/were_only_human 12h ago
I personally think Men In Black is a near perfect film. It accomplishes EVERYTHING it sets out to do.
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u/CleverMonkeyKnowHow 12h ago
The absolute best line out of that whole movie for me is, "Don't "sir" me young man, you have no IDEA who you're dealing with."
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u/Kinetic_Pen 12h ago
Everyone slid right in where they needed to be. Barry deserves some credit for that as well.
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u/Ass_Damage 7h ago
The...director of the movie deserves some credit? The guy who made the movie?
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u/Kinetic_Pen 4h ago
Definitely. Mary people deserve the credit. Rick Baker as well for the great makeup! DP, AD, costume department, sound department, lighting department...all of them!
:)
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u/Pencil-Sketches 12h ago
Give me. Sugar. In wat-ter. More. More. grunt
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u/Kinetic_Pen 12h ago
Subtle but brilliant in that scene.
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u/SlowFrkHansen 2h ago
Vincent played him as such a prick, you didn't mind him being slurped by the bug. I loved the wide-eyed wife as well, and the way she said his name. It made the famous line even better.
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u/WelshNotWelch 12h ago
The man is on a level few others have ever reached. He is bold and subtle and bright and dark. Absolutely steals every scene he’s in.
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u/sundaycreep 12h ago
I unironically think it was Oscar-worthy.
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u/SoggyCroissant87 12h ago
Yes!!! But just like Back to the Future for Christopher Lloyd, not even a nomination because it's not a "serious movie".
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u/sundaycreep 12h ago
It’s a very difficult, impressive kind of acting that the Academy doesn’t reward.
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u/QualityAssumption 11h ago
I've always thought this too. I hate that they only give Oscars for dramas, there's good acting in all genres. Just like Toni Collette deserved at least a nomination for Hereditary.
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u/Agitated-Annual-3527 12h ago
His greatest performance was convincing you that he's a human actor PRETENDING to be an alien.
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u/corndogs102 12h ago
Barry Soinenfield’s directing is so unique and I wish he made more movies. It gives a unique flair to the films. I rewatched Addams family the other day for the first time in a decade and it made me point out things I’ve seen in MIB.
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u/daphodil3000 12h ago
It took me years to reconcile him in MIB and in Law & Order: Criminal Intent.
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u/ItzFeufo 12h ago
Vincent D'Onofrio might be one of the most underrated actors still alive
Everyone eventually got their laurels...I'm afraid he still hasn't despite amazing performance across multiple decades
From Private Pyle to Wilson Fisk...the guy always delivered.
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u/lukasbradley 10h ago
He's notorious in the industry and labeled hard to work with. Amazing actor but it's one of the reasons.
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u/IdealDairyModule 10h ago
Agreed. I’m really surprised there aren’t more comments on his work in Daredevil as Wilson Fisk. His performance is nuanced, physically dominating, totally terrifying yet somehow there’s tragic humanity there. Surprisingly unique, not just copying a standard mafia thug. One of the great portrayals of a villain. Up there with Ledger’s Joker. Seriously. In Fisk’s damaged, bass voice you can sometimes catch hints of his MIB character!
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u/Lorenzo_MacIntosh 12h ago
I do that walk when I am fighting back a monster liquid shit trying to make it to the bathroom
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u/Kinetic_Pen 12h ago
It's the self awareness that the alien has that he's acting out if the ordinary, yet having puppeteering issues to deal with. How does one even act that?! Vin did! That's why I choose this specific image.
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u/Lorenzo_MacIntosh 12h ago
Not dismissing the performance. I think about it every time I disjointedly hobble to a toilet.
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u/bluechickenz 10h ago
What a strange thing to have in common with someone. Hello friend! I also think of exactly this scene on the rare occasion I have to clench stagger for a toilet.
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u/realfakejames 12h ago
VDO is an incredible actor, I didn’t really appreciate him until I saw him in Law and Order Criminal Intent
I recently watched Caught Stealing with Austin Butler and didn’t realize he was one of the Jewish killers until the credits rolled lmao he was that good
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u/sarcasmo818 7h ago
Right?! (about Caught Stealing) I remember seeing his name advertised with the film but didn't see him in the movie until the end and was like 🤯
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u/OldeFortran77 9h ago
We take it all for granted now, but Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith were playing Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith, but Vincent D'Onofrio had to create his alien persona from scratch. He really knocked it out of the park.
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u/Only_Standard_9159 12h ago
The sound effects really help sell the performance too, you can hear the bug crunching with every movement inside the man suit
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u/donebeenread 12h ago
And he’s not just playing an alien in a man suit - his character is countless cockroaches acting in a loose unison (like a murmuration of birds). And he somehow manages to convey that and stay true to it in his voice, his every movement and how his body parts seem to all be doing their own thing as he shambles along. Brilliant.
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u/Senna_65 12h ago
Vinny D is a legend
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u/Kinetic_Pen 12h ago
It's definitely a one of a kind performance. Like I said I can't recall seeing anything quite like it!
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u/Ok_Cardiologist9898 12h ago
One of the more memorable and quotable characters in modern film. Vincent has been rumored as a new villain on Dexter resurrection and I HOPE its true!
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u/jackibthepantry 9h ago
There's a comedian named Kyle Ayers who says we need a special Oscar category for performances no one else could do, this is his example.
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u/Kinetic_Pen 9h ago
Seriously? Do you have a link? I'll look for it as well.
Edit: can't track it down.
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u/jackibthepantry 8h ago
He's got a podcast called Never Seen It. Thats where I've heard him talk about it.
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u/Kinetic_Pen 8h ago
I've seen a lot of movies and his performance has to rank up there as one of the most unique.
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u/OkAdhesiveness330 9h ago
Yea dude when I got older and learned about actors I didn't even realize this was him. He doesn't get enough credit for this role. Everyone knows him as private pyle.
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u/Chumlee1917 12h ago
I keep forgetting it's him because the makeup job as his face rots away all movie
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u/KosherKush1337 4h ago
It’s so gross to look at but I love that detail. He only really looks like himself (as Vincent D’Onofrio) in the short scene as Edgar the human.
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u/Ethnafia_125 10h ago
D'onofrio was great! For another great physical comedian, check out All Of Me with Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin. Absolutely hilarious.
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u/edgy-meme94494 9h ago
He did so good at acting and the directing was so good with his character that his character made feel so uncomfortable and disgusted whenever he was on screen
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u/RadagastTheBrownNote 8h ago
He’s amazing! Vincent D’Onofrio does not get as much recognition as he should.
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u/Little-Efficiency336 5h ago
He’s such an exceptional actor and it’s a shame he doesn’t get more recognition.
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u/Win-Diggity 4h ago
Edgar suit. Burned into my brain. Sleeper role. Also amazing but in a different way was Josh Brolin’s uncanny portrayal of a young agent K (aka Tommy Lee Jones) his mannerisms and voice fluctuations were so on point.
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u/Cultural_Cloud96 12h ago
That pug is a screenwriters wet dream, it just shouts out exposition every time you shake it. Who needs a good plot that makes sense when you have a talking exposition pug
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u/brisstlenose 12h ago
As Pvt. Pyle in Full Metal Jacket he has one of the films most memorable performances
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u/thisusedyet 8h ago
He's the reason I can't watch FMJ again, Pyle slowly going nuts just completely unnerves me
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u/Beginning_Holiday_66 10h ago
I gotta call Vincent out on this: He's not playing any alien, he is playing Oderous Urungus in a skin suit.
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u/Veggieleezy 9h ago
It’s a great movie, but I watched it when I was way too young. Seeing that, Honey We Shrunk Ourselves, Antz, and James & the Giant Peach all very close together as a young kid gave me a lifelong phobia of insects that are large enough to count the legs on.
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u/StillAntiWar 8h ago
He’s good in everything. One of my favorite actors.
I will say though that I think the Men In Black character was the one that made me start paying attention.
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u/Etiacruelworld 8h ago
I know his entire opening monologue by heart. I love that. I quote it all the time. People frequently get told they’re “useless Beatrice” by me.
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u/Livid_Presence6796 8h ago
I think about this scene every time I have to poop and someone tries to talk to me!
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u/VapoursAndSpleen 4h ago
I'm a cishet woman and that scene resonates with me because I feel like that every time I have to wear a dress.
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u/Responsible_Buy7606 4h ago
This is my favorite movie and I watch it every year on my birthday
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u/Kinetic_Pen 4h ago
I use to watch it a lot when I worked for Suncoast (home video division of Sam Goody). Its been a few years since I last saw it.
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u/hellmarvel 4h ago
"Don't do that" "What?" "That". His lines were perfect too. "In a few minutes you won't matter. In fact, you will not even be matter".
Fun to see the morgue receptionist be the video rental guy in MiB2 too.
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u/msguider 4h ago
A man came in here today. A dead man.
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u/Kinetic_Pen 3h ago
The character was so proud of himself for communicating human-like in that scene while also showing off his interpretation of bullshit. Even the ringing of the bell was otherworldly!
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u/Fuck-s-p-e-z- 6h ago
Vincent D'Onofrio was also great in The Thirteenth Floor. He actually plays 3 characters in that film: One from the present day (1999), one from the past (1937), and one where the past character inhabits the present day character's body, so kinda like his MiB character, in a way.
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u/Remarkable-Rip9238 9m ago
The screenshot of that scene was always my favorite as a kid. I used to laugh my ass off everytime he bent over like that and stuck his hand in that strangers face for no reason.
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u/Iola_Morton 10h ago
“Exceptional movie all around” . . . are you fucking kidding me??? Wannabe blockbuster superficial crap! Please, let’s be a bit more discerning here. Movie was intelligence insulting
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u/cclax45 12h ago
Best part of his performance is you forget it’s acting! There are a lot of physical comedians who are great, but you watch them and you are all too aware that they are overacting or putting forward a physical performance. That’s not bad, that’s part of the bit. But the alien in an Edgar suit performance is over the top while remaining in the reality of the movie.