Men in Black (1997)

Men in Black DVD

Columbia Pictures Corporation
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino
Directed by: Barry Sonnenfeld

Cat Out of the Bag Alert! This review contains some spoilers for this film!

Synopsis: A NYPD officer (Will Smith) is recruited by a secret organization which deals with extraterrestrial activity on Earth and begins his training with a seasoned agent (Tommy Lee Jones).

Featured Feline: Partway into the film we see an older man named Rosenburg (Mike Nussbaum) who is a jeweler leaving his shop. He is carrying a case in which an orange and white cat is sitting.

Edgar (Vincent D’Onofrio), the rogue alien the agents are looking for, watches the man and cat leave the shop and take a taxi.

Men in Black - Rosenberg and orange and white cat Orion leave shop

Rosenburg arrives at a café where he meets with a tall man who is actually an Arquillian (Carel Struycken). Rosenburg sets the cat in the bag on the floor.

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion in bag on floor of café

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion looking up from bag on floor of café

Edgar poses as a waiter and serves the men. They realize what he wants and Rosenburg warns him he won’t find it. Edgar kills the men and grabs what he thinks is what he wants. As he leaves the cat jumps up and hisses at the fleeing mutant.

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion hisses

The cat is taken with Rosenburg to the morgue where we meet coroner Laurel Weaver (Linda Fiorentino).

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion riding on guerny into morgue

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion in morgue with Laurel

She begins to examine Rosenburg’s body when Agents K and J arrive. Agent J sees the cat and asks about it but it is then ignored.

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion at Agent J's feet

When the secret behind Rosenburg is revealed and ends sadly, the cat is seen poking its head over an edge looking down and mews plaintively.

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion mews from above

Later Edgar ransacks Rosenburg’s shop, still looking for what he wants. Then he spots a picture on the wall of Rosenburg and the cat and realizes something.

Men in Black - portrait of Rosenburg with orange and white cat Orion

The alien which was Rosenburg has told Agent J that what they seek is on Orion’s belt. They think he means the constellation, but it turns out the cat’s name is Orion and what they are seeking is on his collar!

Men in Black - picture of orange and white cat Orion

Laurel sees the object on Orion’s collar and is mesmerized.

Men in Black - Laurel looks at bauble on orange and white cat Orion's collar

Edgar returns to the morgue. Orion senses his arrival and hisses.

Men in Black - orange and white cat Orion hisses in morgue

Laurel is attacked by Edgar, who chases Orion the cat around the morgue. Later Edgar manages to grab Orion. In the next shots we see Edgar with Orion’s broken collar but it is never made clear the way the film is edited whether or not Orion was killed or escaped.

Men in Black - Edgar's hand grabs orange and white cat Orion

Kitty Cameo: In one scene after the agents talk to the pug dog Frank they let him go and he runs down the street. He pauses to bark at a cat sitting on a balcony nearby.

Men in Black - cream colored cat on balcony above street