It was very clear to me on first viewing that Edwards/Agent J was the only one passing the tests. I was curious as to why they didn’t show THREE tests, which in this sort of thing they usually do, but from the first two you could tell what was going on.
It was, I thought, a remarkably clever bit of writing in a movie that was generally quite clever.
No, he read correctly. He was commenting that an automatic watch (like the ones I normally wear) do him no good since he doesn’t move his left arm enough. (FWIW, I’m almost completely right-handed; but I wear my watch on the right and I mouse with my left.)
I’ll try that when I have the battery replaced. FWIW, mine is a new model quartz; not the electric electronic one like Elvis wore in Blue Hawaii.
I think the rolling of the eyes was in response to J getting all defensive saying, “I’d appreciate it if you’d ease up off my back” or something like that. He did what he was supposed to do. He was a natural for the job. But, he also gave attitude to the guys.
I will eventually need one of each, but am not currently suffering from Wristwatch Acquisition Syndrome. In the past it was satisfied with the purchase of a flashy-but-cheap watch from K-Mart, but the condition is advancing, especially since the not-flashy cheap watch my daughter gave me has an hour hand scarcely wider than its second hand and I’ve had to learn the days of the week in Spanish because I can’t figure out how to change it.
And…
‘You’re comin’ with me! It’s a long trip. I’ll need a snack.’
Or:
‘No, Elvis is not dead! He just went home.’
In the novelization Ed and Kay specifically mention how Jay was correct about the little girl.
There was a book made about MIB? Or was MIB based in a book?
The comic book the movies are based on is just about as good.
http://www.milehighcomics.com/cgi-bin/backissue.cgi?action=list&title=52975371752&snumber=1
Sadly, really hard to find these days.
They took the movie and put it into book form.
Fleshed out some stuff in interesting ways, too.
A big part of being MiB is observation skills. You need to notice what’s out of the ordinary, to be able to spot an alien or track it without alerting the normals. You also need to have the ability to tell a threat from a non-threat, even if the non-threats look scary; it wouldn’t do for a human agent to spaz out and shoot a benign alien. Then, of course, you need good marksman skills, for those times when you need to put down a threat fast.
There’s more to the job than that, but those are what the tests were for. Noticing details, analyzing them, and coming to a quick, correct decision without being fazed by the sheer weirdness of the situation. The military men just opened fire without thought, which is what usually happens when aliens visit in other stories; the military shows up and starts shooting things up, justified or not.
Technically, they DID show three tests. #3 was introducing J to the Worm Guys to see how he would react.
“Place your weapon on the ground!”
“You can have my gun when you pry it from my cold dead fingers!”
“Your proposal is acceptable.”
I’d always interpreted it as K passing the test with flying colors- doing exactly what MIB wants him to do, rather than what most government agents are conditioned to do.
Nitpickery: Will Smith is J and Tommy Lee Jones is K.
Heh, I got the impression that he did poorly, especially due to the humorous presentation of it all, as it made him look like a fool . I don’t see the cleverness in shooting the girl. Now it was probably 10 years ago I watched the movie, but was anything shown to support his theory that she was evil somehow?
She had a quantum physics textbook. 8-year-old girls with quantum physics textbooks must be aliens with nefarious plans.
“I’m thinking 8 year old white girl, middle of the ghetto, bunch of monsters this time of night with quantum physics books? She about to start some shit, Zed! She’s about 8 years old, those books are way too advanced for her. If you ask me, I say she’s up to something.” He’s entirely correct here; the underlying idea is that aliens may dress up to look human, but they won’t always get the details right.
“And to be honest, I’d appreciate it if you eased up off my back about it.” That’s what gets the glare from Zed.
Thing is, Zed’s the boss. He naturally doesn’t like people who challenge authority. But he can’t deny that Edwards is perfect for the job, and that makes him grouchy.
Great, great movie. From IMDB.com:
The “known aliens” visible on the [MiB headquarters] screen include Al Roker, Isaac Mizrahi, Danny DeVito, director Barry Sonnenfeld, Chloe Sonnenfeld (Barry’s daughter), Sylvester Stallone, Dionne Warwick, Newt Gingrich, Anthony Robbins, George Lucas, and executive producer Steven Spielberg.
Still my favorite lines:
*Edwards: *Why the big secret? People are smart. They can handle it.
Kay: A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it. Fifteen hundred years ago everybody knew the Earth was the center of the universe. Five hundred years ago, everybody knew the Earth was flat, and fifteen minutes ago, you knew that humans were alone on this planet. Imagine what you’ll know tomorrow.
Um … are you sure that’s how you wanted to say that? 
She looked like she was about 8 or 9 years old, but she was carrying quantum mechanics textbooks. Something ain’t right there.
One clever thing with the movie was that they marketed it as starring “Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones”.