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Enemy Of The State [1998]


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great thriller
Review date: 2008-03-10 Rating: 8 out of 10



Tony Scott is a very seductive director. He presses all the right visual buttons. This man virtually patented the orange-filtered Simpson-Bruckheimer sky. To some, this makes him Ridley's flashy, shallow brother. But when Scott's camera happens upon a decent story and some really fine performers, as with Crimson Tide, the effect is like having your inside leg stroked in the dark for two hours. Enemy Of The State is like that. It's a fairly well-trodden story of national insecurity that's been given a good optical seeing-to: a congressman (Jason Robards) is bumped off for refusing to back a privacy bill. His murder is caught on film by an ornithologist (Jason Lee), who is similarly 'erased', but not before planting a copy of the evidence on attorney Robert Clayton Dean (Smith). The ultra-secret National Security Agency (nicknamed No Such Agency), which is behind all this, targets the innocent Dean: he's smeared, loses his job, and is booted out of his delightful home. In order to 'get his life back', he enlists the help of a grizzled, former NSA man Brill (Hackman), but their every move is monitored by a crack squad of grunge nerds at VDUs. Yes, it's the 1974 classic The Conversation taken to its logical conclusion (there's even a lengthy homage to Coppola's great opening scene which will either delight or annoy). Civil liberty is the issue du jour - not only is Big Brother watching us, he's keeping tabs on what we buy with our Sainsbury's Reward Card - so, unlike producer Jerry Bruckheimer's last biggie, Armageddon, which measured the personal impact of a global event, Enemy Of The State starts with a small event (one little murder) and works upwards and outwards. Set in and around Washington DC over Christmas, it has plenty to offer visually (Scott's lens laps up the winter chill, the fairy lights and the large government buildings), and it is against this handsome backdrop that the action takes place. But this is an action film not measurable by octane levels. It's more like a never-ending chase, whose choppy, paranoid pace is effortlessly maintained using fast edits and multiple film stocks, and only once descends into gimmickry (Smith hanging off a hotel balcony in his underwear). Crucially to the film's non-macho tone, you can easily imagine the lead role being taken by Sandra Bullock: it's about minds ticking over, not guns blazing. (Not until the end anyway.) David Marconi's script clunks a little in the establishing scenes, but once Jason Lee makes his discovery and declares, '..... a duck!', it relaxes no end. When the NSA supernerds utter that era-defining phrase, 'Gentlemen, we are back on-line!', it's as if they are taking over the world, not just Washington. Great fun. And besides the always enthralling Hackman, an offbeat supporting cast (Lee, Ian Hart, Scream's Jamie Kennedy, Private Ryan's sharpshooter Barry Pepper) helps keep the film's cool when all around it blockbusters are losing theirs. A truly substantial looker for the holidays, it's that rare Bruckheimer project in which style is matched by content.



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Reviews


Cat & Mouse suspense ... all too possible in real life
Review date: 2008-01-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

This film took a little time to take off in the beginning, but it was necessary to stage the action that would come later.

The movie opens with a powerful politician, played by John Voight, killing another politician who refuses to support a bill that would allow spying into people's lives to protect the country. That killing is caught on tape and the tape falls into the hands of a researcher who then slips the tape into a shopping bag carried by Will Smith's character.

From there the action takes off at a breathtaking pace. The parts are flawlessly acted - John Voight is the perfect embodiment of the stereotypical evil politician, Will Smith is the helpless victim, and Gene Hackman is the brilliant strategist who pulls the entire film together. I won't say more as I wouldn't want to spoil the suspense.

The thing about this movie is it seems so terrifyingly real. They show throughout the film, the tracking systems used (satellites and high end computer programs). I found myself thinking about this one for days after seeing it. It made me pause and wonder just how real the scenario could be and what it would mean to the general population.


FAST MOVING STUFF
Review date: 2007-09-19 Rating: 8 out of 10

Great action thriller. Great cast which always helps a film along nicely.

The story is well written and keeps you on the edge of your seat. I answered the door at one point and lost the plot completely. Shut the curtains, take the phone off the hook and do a wee before watching.

VASTLY UNDERRATED
Review date: 2007-09-05 Rating: 10 out of 10

Conspiracy theorists who enjoy films like JFK and Conspiracy Theory will have a lot to enjoy with Enemy of the State. For a film that came out almost 10 years ago, it seems just slightly ahead its time. I don't remember everything about 1998, but I do know that things like DVD was in it's nascent stages and although the internet has been part of our vernacular for almost 20 years now, the technology prevalent back in 98 as opposed to now is light years apart. And in the post 911 days, having the idea of our privacy abolished is pretty much upon us. Maybe not to the extent perpetuated in this film, but we are pretty much under Big Brother's watchful eye all the time. When you walk into a bank, a restaurant, a convenience store or any public place, you are photographed and recorded and your image can be recalled with a simple enough click of a button. Even today when you call places like phone company's or pizza parlours you hear a recorded message that says this call may be recorded for quality purposes. We are being watched and kept tabs on everywhere we go and in everything we do. In this vein, Enemy of the State is a marvel. It is a film way ahead of it's time. No one could foresee the tragedy of 911, but now that it is part of our history books, films like The Siege and this one are that much more clairvoyant.

Will Smith plays a Washington attorney whose life is turned inside out when he is given a disc that has a political murder on it. He doesn't know that it does and when an unsanctioned government spook squad comes after him, he is confused and out of his element. Gene Hackman plays Brill, who might as well be an older version of Harry Cauld, his character from Francis Ford Coppola's 1974 film The Conversation. He is a communications expert that has basically gone mercenary and no longer does the dirty work for the CIA and other seedy government factions. Smith needs his help attempting to understand what it all means and how he got entangled in this imbroglio. While Smith is the star of the film, it is clearly Hackman that steals the show with his vernacular and expertise on the subject.

The film is also blessed with so many bit players that are now either famous or semi famous that it's like watching a Robert Altman film such as The Player. There are that many famous faces in here. Barry Pepper, Jake Busey, Jack Black, Jaime Kennedy, Jason Lee, Gabriele Byrne, Tom Sizemore and Jason Robards all show up in the film in supporting roles. Add to that the incomparable Jon Voight and you have one hell of a cast.

Enemy of the State moves at a break neck pace. It is directed with a kinetic urgency and Tony Scott shows us why he is one of the best in the business with his style. I can't imagine many haven't seen this, but for those that haven't, it is definitely one of Jerry Bruckheimer's best. And that is saying something.

Product Details/Specifications


Actor(s):
Jake Busey
Jamie Kennedy
Gene Hackman
Barry Pepper
Philip Baker Hall

Creators:
Gene Hackman (Primary Contributor)
Jamie Kennedy (Primary Contributor)

Director(s):

Recording label: Touchstone Home Video
Manufacturer: Touchstone Home Video
EAN: 8717418103996
Binding: DVD
Number of items: 1
Format: Anamorphic, PAL,
Release date: 2006-11-06
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audience rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
Region code: 2
Running time: 134 minutes
Theatrical release date: 1998
Language: English (Original Language)

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