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"Enemy of the State" uses the thriller genre to attack what it calls "the surveillance society," an America in which underground computers at Fort Meade monitor our phone calls for trigger words like "bomb," "president" and "Allah." It stars Will Smith as a Washington, D.C., lawyer whose life is dismantled bit by bit (and byte by byte) because he possesses proof that a congressman was murdered for opposing a bill that would make government snooping easier.

For much of the movie, the lawyer doesn't even know he has the evidence, a videotape showing the congressman's suicide being faked while a high government official looks on. The official, named Reynolds and played by Jon Voight with glasses and a haircut that make him uncannily resemble Robert McNamara, directs a vendetta against the lawyer that includes planting sexual gossip in the paper, canceling his credit cards, getting him fired and eventually even trying to frame him for the murder.

Paranoid? Exaggerated? No doubt, although "Enemy of the State" reminded me of that recent scary Anthony Lewis column in the New York Times about Julie Hiatt Steele, an innocent bystander in the Kenneth Starr investigation who had her tax returns audited, her neighbors and employers questioned, and her adoption of a war orphan threatened--all because she testified that Kathleen Willey had asked her to lie about a meeting with President Clinton.

It's not the government that is the enemy, this movie argues, so much as bureaucrats and demagogues who use the power of the government to gain their own ends and cover their own tracks. Voight's character is really acting on his own behalf: He wants a communications bill passed because it will make his job easier (and perhaps make him richer). He has the congressman ( Jason Robards ) killed because he's the key opponent of the bill. Everything else follows from the coverup of the murder.

The movie was directed by Tony Scott (" Top Gun "), who films technology the way the National Geographic films wetlands. As the Will Smith character dodges around Washington, trying to figure out who's after him and why, the story is told with footage from spy satellites, surveillance cameras, listening devices, bugs, wiretaps and database searches. The first time I saw a movie where a satellite was able to zoom in on a car license plate, I snickered. Recently I was able to log onto a Web site (www.terraserver.microsoft.com/) and see the roof of my house--or yours. If Microsoft gives that away for free, I believe the National Security Agency can read license plates.

The fugitive lawyer's only friend is a shadowy underground figure named Brill ( Gene Hackman ), who was an American spy until 1980, and since then has lived an invisible life as a hired gun in the outlands of intelligence and communications. His headquarters: a high-tech hideaway in an old warehouse building, with his equipment fenced in by copper mesh to stop the snoopers. (There is an echo here of Francis Coppola's 1974 film " The Conversation ," which also starred Hackman as a paranoid high-tech eavesdropper; the workplaces in the two movies resemble each other--deliberately, I assume.) It's Brill who briefs the lawyer on what the government can do. I don't believe him when he says the feds have computers at Fort Meade monitoring our phone calls; I read that as a screenwriter's invention. But I do believe the government can listen to any phone call it wants to and does so much more often than the law suggests it should.

The movie is fast-paced, centered around two big chase scenes, and ending in a clever double-cross that leads to a big shootout. In its action and violence it shows us how the movies have changed since 1974; "The Conversation" is a similar story that depended only on its intelligence and paranoia for appeal. "Enemy of the State" shoehorns in brief scenes between the lawyer and his wife ( Regina King ) and former girlfriend ( Lisa Bonet ), but is in too much of a hurry to be much of a people picture. And the standoff at the end edges perilously close to the ridiculous, for a movie that's tried so hard to be plausible.

But by and large the movie works. Smith is credible as a good lawyer who is blindsided by the misused power of the state. Gene Hackman, with a bristly haircut and horn-rimmed nerd glasses, seems utterly confident of everything he says. Voight's bureaucrat seems convinced that his job somehow places him above the law. "We are at war 24 hours a day," he barks out near the beginning of the film. It was Pogo who said: "We have met the enemy, and he is us."

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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Film credits.

Enemy of the State (1998)

Rated R For Language and Violence

128 minutes

Will Smith as Robert Dean

Gene Hackman as Brill

Jon Voight as Reynolds

Lisa Bonet as Rachel Banks

Directed by

• David Marconi

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Enemy of the state, common sense media reviewers.

Late-'90s action movie has frequent profanity, violence.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

While the movie is filled with messages on the sco

While an argument could be made that at least two

Frequent action-movie violence. A man on a bike is

A Congressman is spied on in his hotel room receiv

Frequent profanity. The f-word is used on a regula

Pills are placed around a politician's head to loo

Parents need to know that Enemy of the State is a 1998 action movie with frequent profanity, action-style violence, and sexual content, including references to oral sex and infidelity. While the movie does show the machinations of a pre-9/11 government agency determined to a ruin the life and credibility of a…

Positive Messages

While the movie is filled with messages on the scope and reach of surveillance in our society, the primary focus is the action itself.

Positive Role Models

While an argument could be made that at least two of these characters are resisting the intrusiveness of the surveillance society as manifested by the NSA, these characters are also action-movie archetypes straight out of the Jerry Bruckheimer school of late '90s formulaic blockbuster movies.

Violence & Scariness

Frequent action-movie violence. A man on a bike is shown being killed by riding in front of a fire truck. During the opening credits, a series of car crashes are shown overhead. A woman is found dead in her bathroom from an apparent suicide. Frequent explosions and gunfire. A man gets shot in the head. Characters shoot at each other from point-blank range, resulting in numerous deaths.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A Congressman is spied on in his hotel room receiving oral sex from a woman; while no body parts are shown, the motions and gestures make it obvious what is happening. After being asked questions about an extramarital affair he has had by his employers, the lead character asks one of them if he masturbates in the shower. During a scene in a lingerie store, a female employee dressed in lingerie asks the lead character for the breast size of his wife. His wife is later shown in the lingerie as they begin to flirt in a provocative manner. When the lead character and his wife make insinuations about having sex, their young son asks, "Are you guys talking about sex?"

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Frequent profanity. The f-word is used on a regular basis. Members of the mafia refer to an African-American lawyer as an "eggplant." Italian-Americans are referred to as "guidos."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Pills are placed around a politician's head to look like a suicide after he is murdered.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Enemy of the State is a 1998 action movie with frequent profanity, action-style violence, and sexual content, including references to oral sex and infidelity. While the movie does show the machinations of a pre-9/11 government agency determined to a ruin the life and credibility of a man in possession of filmed evidence of spies killing a Congressman, the primary focus is on the nonstop action. There are also racial slurs: an African-American lawyer is referred to as an "eggplant," and Italian-American mobsters are called "guidos." To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

• Parents say (4)
• Kids say (5)

Based on 4 parent reviews

Chilling-An Effective, Thought Provoking Action Movie

Educational use here..., what's the story.

Will Smith stars as Bobby Dean, a successful Washington lawyer. An old acquaintance of Dean, on the run from the NSA, drops a computer disk into Dean's Christmas packages just before he is killed. Dean does not know that he has the disk, much less that the disk proves that CIA operatives killed a Congressman (an unbilled Jason Robards ) because he opposed their plans to expand surveillance. Dean quickly becomes a target of the NSA, whose agents break into his house and vandalize his belongings, freeze his bank account and credit cards, and send pictures of him with a woman he had once had an affair with to his wife and employer. On the run from the NSA, Dean meets Edward Lyle ( Gene Hackman ), a former NSA surveillance agent who is now "off the grid" and trying to destabilize the intrusiveness on civil liberties that the NSA has undertaken. Lyle reluctantly agrees to help Dean get his life back, and together they turn the tables on the NSA, using their own weapons against them.

Is It Any Good?

It isn't a bad action movie, but it does adhere to the typical action movie structure, despite the messages and debate about a very important topic throughout the movie. The blockbuster production values firmly place this film in the late '90s, but the acting from Will Smith, Jon Voight, Gene Hackman, and the rest of the mostly all-star cast keeps the action sequences from veering into action-movie cliches.

ENEMY OF THE STATE attempts to be both an action movie in the typical bombastic overblown Jerry Bruckheimer style of the late 1990s, as well as a movie conveying a message on the depth and breadth of the surveillance state and the damage it can inflict on American citizens believed to be "national security threats." While it does an effective job of debating the pros and cons of expanded surveillance (and this is three years before 9/11), and shows the extent top-secret government agencies can infiltrate one's privacy, it's still a slightly dated action movie. Overall, though, it should inspire active discussion from mature teens.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the issues raised by balancing the right to privacy with the need for protection. How does this movie convey this message?

How does the movie attempt to balance its message of showing the extent and scope of the surveillance state with the need to be an entertaining action movie?

Do you think this movie would have been much different if it had come out after 9/11? Why or why not?

Movie Details

• In theaters : November 20, 1998
• On DVD or streaming : June 15, 1999
• Cast : Gene Hackman , Jon Voight , Will Smith
• Director : Tony Scott
• Inclusion Information : Black actors
• Studio : Touchstone Pictures
• Genre : Thriller
• Topics : Adventures
• Run time : 132 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language and violence
• Last updated : May 8, 2024

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews

Enemy of the State

A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime. A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime. A lawyer becomes targeted by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a politically motivated crime.

• David Marconi
• Gene Hackman
• 515 User reviews
• 100 Critic reviews
• 67 Metascore
• 5 wins & 16 nominations

• Robert Clayton Dean

• Edward Lyle …

• Thomas Brian Reynolds

• Rachel F. Banks

• Congressman Sam Albert

• Christa Hawkins

• David Pratt

• Daniel Zavitz

• Jerry Miller

• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

• Trivia Gene Hackman turned down this movie several times, but was ultimately convinced to sign on after a phone call by director Tony Scott . Will Smith later signed on at a relative post- Independence Day (1996) bargain price because he wanted to work with Hackman.
• Goofs When Dean is running on the hotel roof after Brill leaves him, the surveillance team reports that the satellite is coming on-line with "one meter resolution". One meter resolution indicates that the smallest pixel (detail) that can be seen is 1 meter by 1 meter while the film clearly suggests that the satellite has enough resolution to see Dean running. Assuming you would need at least "web-cam" resolution (75 pixels-per-inch), the satellite resolution would need to be roughly 2,800 times higher than one meter (38 inches x 75 pixels per inch = 2,850).

Robert Clayton Dean : What the hell is happening?

Brill : I blew up the building.

Robert Clayton Dean : Why?

Brill : Because you made a phone call.

• Alternate versions Also available in an "Unrated Extended Edition" which features some new/extended footage (ca. 7 minutes) like some explicit shots of the senator with his secretary or Dean finding his dead ex-girlfriend covered in blood.
• Connections Edited into 24: 12:00 a.m.-1:00 a.m. (2001)
• Soundtracks O Come All Ye Faithful (Also known as "Adeste Fidelis") Music attributed to John Reading (uncredited) Arranged by Margaret Dorn , Linda Lawley , Danny Pelfrey Performed by The Accidentals Courtesy of Amusicom Records

User reviews 515

• Dec 6, 1998
• How long is Enemy of the State? Powered by Alexa
• is Gene Hackman playing the same character from The Conversation?
• What is 'Enemy of the State' about?
• Is 'Enemy of the State' based on a book?
• November 20, 1998 (United States)
• United States
• Hết Đường Trốn Chạy
• 1633 Connecticut Avenue Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia, USA (Zavitz gets hit by a car)
• Touchstone Pictures
• Jerry Bruckheimer Films
• Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $90,000,000 (estimated)
• $111,549,836
• $20,038,573
• Nov 22, 1998
• $250,849,789

Technical specs

• Runtime 2 hours 12 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Enemy of the State Reviews

It’s a shame to see a film about the intelligence community executed with so little intelligence but it’s a fun ride.

Full Review | Aug 19, 2023

Far ahead of its time in educating society on its rapidly diminishing freedoms from governmental scrutiny, the screenplay favorably manages not to forget to entertain.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Sep 11, 2020

Scott creates suspense by utilizing believable technology and realistic, well-grounded characters.

Full Review | Original Score: B+ | Mar 25, 2020

As a simple thriller that wants only to excite and intensify, it's one of the better ones that the late '90s produced.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | Aug 1, 2013

Decent thriller; not suitable for kids.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Dec 24, 2010

A highly enjoyable hi-tech thriller.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Mar 30, 2009

[Its] spirited action is balanced by an almost contemplative attitude toward surveillance phobias and the movie cliches they've spawned.

Full Review | Mar 30, 2009

Distinctly uneven but generally entertaining...

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jul 22, 2006

If you want to believe in the dark side of government, we are already past the predictions of Enemy of the State.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Jun 8, 2006

...it's the action, not the acting, that is the key to the movie's success, and that's where it excels with its constant momentum.

Full Review | Original Score: 7/10 | May 14, 2006

It's got some great action moments, just enough energy to jolt you through the exposition deliveries, and a ridiculously colorful cast to keep your eyeballs busy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 14, 2006

Add Smith's lippy innocent and a host of subcontracted indie fresh faces, and you have the Bruckheimer formula: loud, lavish, seemingly efficient; over-large, over-long, over-plotted. Safe and sorry.

Full Review | Jan 26, 2006

Who'd have thought I'd miss the subtle touch of the late Don Simpson?

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 6, 2005

O roteiro bem construdo e a direo enrgica de Scott conferem tenso ao filme, que tambm faz uma srie de bem-vindas aluses a A Conversao.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 3, 2005

Since Scott could not make this film snap, crackle or pop faster or more loudly, you might find the evening a bit light.

Full Review | Jul 21, 2005

It's good to see an action thriller have a story that has some real meaning and issues that may open quite a few eyes to the fragility of the rights of the individual in a world where things are moving too fast to control.

Full Review | Original Score: B | Apr 9, 2005

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 2, 2005

It satisfies needs of those who crave for quality entertainment as much as the needs of those who like some food for thought.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Oct 8, 2004

Preposterous.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Oct 5, 2003

High production values and Gene Hackman are the only things that stand out in this run-of-the-mill Hollywood paranoia thriller. The unimaginative plot consists mostly of Will Smith being chased around by government agents.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Aug 11, 2003

Enemy Of The State Review

26 Dec 1998

128 minutes

Enemy Of The State

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, "Fuck 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.

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Enemy of the State Reviews

• 67   Metascore
• 2 hr 12 mins
• Drama, Suspense, Action & Adventure
• Watchlist Where to Watch

An unsuspecting lawyer life is turned inside out by government agents after a friend slips him evidence regarding a congressman's murder.

A sleek young meritocrat stands in the lobby of a swank hotel, squirming as his credit cards are repeatedly, inexplicably declined: Welcome to the modern-day version of the classic "naked in a public place" nightmare. And for brash labor advocate Robert Dean (Will Smith), the nightmare's real. One moment he has a perfect life -- job, Georgetown house, beautiful wife (Regina King) and son (Jascha Washington) -- the next minute he runs into old school acquaintance Zavitz (Jason Lee), and everything changes. Zavitz has accidentally filmed some men in black murdering a senator (Jason Robards) for high-level NSA muckety-muck Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight). Zavitz surreptitiously drops the evidence into Dean's shopping bag and accepts his business card, leading the NSA to believe the two are in cahoots. They turn their considerable resources to the task of ruining Dean, and suddenly his house has been vandalized and bugged, his phones tapped, his credit destroyed and his credibility (not to mention his marriage) compromised: The local papers get a tip that he's mobbed up and having an affair with ex-galpal Rachel Banks (Lisa Bonet), his liaison with a very secretive, very efficient private eye. Even Dean's clothes are wired, and the NSA's army of techno-geeks (cyber slackers who treat the whole business like one big video game) is watching his every move. Enter Dean's last, best hope: Brill (Gene Hackman, clearly reprising his role from Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION), a former NSA operative with a bone to pick with the Big Brother society. Purists may squirm at seeing Coppola's cold-as-ice exploration of paranoia and alienation quoted so liberally in what is, at heart, a pop thriller. But hey -- it's better than seeing it parodied in commercials for the short-lived comedy show The State. Tony Scott's thriller is flashy, but it's not dead stupid and it's never dull.

Enemy of the State (1998)

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Enemy of the State

"State is the name of the coldest of all cold monsters. Coldly it tells lies too; and this lie crawls out of its mouth: ``I, the state, am the people.'' That is a lie! It was creators who created peoples and hung a faith and a love over them: thus they served life." --Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathushtra

Enemy of the State follows a formulaic story line that generally has worked well for Hollywood: the protagonist is framed for crimes they did not not commit and has to overcome overwhelming odds to prove their innocence ( North by Northwest , The Fugitive , The Negotiator , The Net , U.S. Marshals ). In this particular Orwellian scenario, the protagonist is pitted against a corrupt government organisation which has an even greater appeal to me.

In the spirit of The X Files , the operative watchword here is "trust no one", because the government is listening to and watching everything you say and do. And in the same spirit, the plot is fairly convoluted: Robert Dean, a Washington, DC lawyer, is involved in a case against Pintero (Tom Sizemore) a mobster who is extorting his clients. Dean obtains a videotape of Pintero violating his parole (which could result in a long jail sentence) from "Brill", a person of many means. Dean wants to cut a deal with the mobster: leave his clients alone and the videotape disappears.

Cut to another seemingly unrelated sub-plot: Dean encounters Daniel Zavitz (Jason Lee) a classmate of his from Georgetown University on the run from National Security Agency (NSA) goons. The reason Zavitz is being pursued is because he possess a disk depicting the murder of a U.S. Senator by NSA Deputy Director Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight) set up to look like a suicide. The reason? The Senator was opposing a bill that would give greater surveillance powers (within the U.S.) to the NSA. Zavitz slips the evidence of the murder into Dean's shopping bags and manages to promptly kill himself (cycling on Georgetown streets is murder). Dean, blissfully unaware of the highly incriminating piece of information he's carrying, goes home to his wife and son.

Soon after, Dean's life is turned upside town: his every moment is tracked, every word is tapped, and his credit cards are made inoperative, by the NSA so they can acquire the disk. After stumbling around for a bit trying to figure out what's happening to him, Dean turns to Brill for help, who turns out be an ex-NSA agent named Edward Lyle who was responsible for inventing some of the surveillance devices used against Dean by the NSA. Together, they fight the NSA using the same techniques used against them, culminating in an action sequence where the two sub-plots are brought together in highly improbable circumstances.

Enemy of the State has a lot of good things going for it: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, and Jon Voight dole out excellent performances. The supporting cast isn't too bad either. The direction (Tony Scott) and pacing of the action sequences are fast and tight. The cinematography is brilliant and the use of the satellite perspective to film scenes makes the surveillance aspect of the film extremely realistic. The ending, which features a Reservoir Dogs face-off, could've been done better (by making it conform more to a Quentin Tarantino style).

Movies like Enemy of the State stop and make you think. I'd wager most people brush off comments in the movie about the abilities of the government to monitor every aspect of your life saying "it can't be possible" or "they wouldn't do that." But I think the technology to do all the things depicted in the film isn't too far from being deployed for routine use (after all, I can, on the world wide web , see a satellite image of the building I research in ). Big Brother is indeed watching. Fortunately, like in the film, technology that enables surveillance to have an extraordinary reach also enables the average person to avoid surveillance to unsurpassed levels (especially considering the incompetency of government in general). It makes it all the more imperative that people do not let their freedoms to use anonymity and strong encryption and protect their privacy be abridged: that is what will provide a defense in an Orwellian future.

Enemy of the State

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer damn near atones for the inanities of Armageddon by turning out this dynamite thriller about the abuses of surveillance technology. To keep us glued to a complex, often maddeningly implausible plot, he borrows a trick from the master, Alfred Hitchcock, who knew you had to cast a star — say, Jimmy Stewart ( The Man Who Knew Too Much ) or Cary Grant ( North By Northwest ) — whom an audience would follow anywhere. Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott have wisely set their course by Will Smith, who is sensational in a dramatic role that leans on him to carry a movie without the help of aliens or Big Willie-style jokes for every occasion.

As D.C. labor lawyer Robert Clayton Dean, who is married and the father of two, Smith infuses his performance with flashes of humor without compromising a situation that goes from bad to nightmare worse. Wife Carla (the wonderfully feisty Regina King), also a lawyer, thinks Robert is fucking his old flame, Rachel (Lisa Bonet), who is actually an intermediary between Robert and a mob boss (Tom Sizemore, hamming it up royally). While shopping for a sexy nightie to appease Carla, Robert is slipped a tape by a friend (Jason Lee). The tape shows the murder of a congressman (Jason Robards) by rogue forces in the National Security Agency, led by Thomas Brian Reynolds (a menacing Jon Voight). It’s Reynolds who uses technology — and what an array of intrusive bells and whistles it is — to stalk Robert, get him fired, discredit his reputation, ruin his marriage and ultimately leave him marked for death.

Scott directs with a verve he hasn’t shown since True Romance . It’s a kick to to see today’s spymasters portrayed not as graybeards but as twenty something frat boys with laptops. This geek brigade is played winningly by Loren Dean, Barry Pepper, Ian Hart and Jack Black. Still, it takes Brill (Gene Hackman), a veteran spy, to save Robert by making the freaked-out lawyer strip down to his boxer shorts to remove the bugs infesting the rest of his wardrobe.

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Enemy of the State had me from Hackman’s hello. What a pleasure to watch such effortless authority and control. Am I wrong, or is Hackman not the best character actor in the business? To add to the fun, Scott references Hackman’s seminal role as surveillance expert Harry Caul in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1974 The Conversation by showing Brill holed up like Harry in a warehouse filled with bugging devices. It’s a sight that also evokes other potent paranoid thrillers of the Watergate era, such as The Parallax View and Three Days of the Condor.

Enemy of the State is not in that master class. A Hollywood gloss intrudes, along with a glibness that rankles, especially at the climax. The rousing fun comes in watching Smith and Hackman locked and loaded to do battle against the digital invaders of privacy. What do you say about a movie that sends you home in a frenzy to search for bugs? In the new age of Big Brother, that’s entertainment.

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Enemy Of The State (1998)

A chance encounter with an old friend destroys attorney Robert Clayton Dean's (Will Smith) fast-track career and happy home life when he is framed for murder by a corrupt intelligence official. As an administrator on loan from the State Department to the National Security Agency, Thomas Brian Reynolds (Jon Voight) appropriates the vast resources of his department to commit the perfect crime and conceal a political cover up of immense proportions. Dean's only hope to reclaim his life and prove his innocence is a man he's never met, a mysterious underground information broker and ex-intelligence operative known only as Brill (Gene Hackman)

Enemy of the State DVD Review

Overall this movie is pretty darn entertaining.

Enemy of the State

R | 2h 11m | Action, Adventure, Thriller

A successful labor lawyer finds himself under intense government scrutiny after being implicated in the murder of a congressman by an unscrupulous National Security Agency. He turns to a former intelligence operative for help in extricating himself from the nightmare of harassment he's fallen under.

Producer Bruckheimer likens the film to a cross between Three Days of the Condor and The Conversation.

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November 20, 1998 FILM REVIEW 'Enemy of the State': The Walls Have Ears and Eyes Related Articles The New York Times on the Web: Current Film Video Selected Scenes and Trailer From the Film Forum Join a Discussion on Film By JANET MASLIN hough "Enemy of the State" finds a flimsy excuse for setting one scene amid lingerie models, babes have nothing to do with its notion of sex appeal. Instead, it's the gigahertz that are hot in a thriller that treats technology as its biggest turn-on. Linda R. Chen/Touchstone Pictures High-stakes pursuit: Will Smith in Tony Scott's thriller "Enemy of the State." High-tech surveillance ("Enhance, then forward frame by frame!") is at the heart of this latest splashy collaboration between Tony Scott and Jerry Bruckheimer ("Top Gun," "Crimson Tide"), with its premise that privacy is imperiled by runaway electronics. In a week that finds the nation listening to surreptitiously taped Washington telephone calls, who's to say that "Enemy of the State" doesn't have a point? This much is certain: it has a hurtling pace, nonstop intensity and a stylish, appealing performance by Will Smith in his first real starring role. And although Scott has done popular culture no great favor by pioneering the Simpson-Bruckheimer school of empty but sensation-packed filmmaking, he now looks like a veritable Billy Wilder beside latter-day Top Gunners like Michael ("Armageddon") Bay. As a grand old man of the thrill-happy genre, Scott gives this film a fine cast, a modicum of wit on the run and a reasonably human dimension. As Gene Hackman, playing an eccentric technology wiz, finally admits about Smith's lawyer-turned-action hero: "Not too stupid after all." ADVERTISEMENT Smith plays Robert Clayton Dean, an upright and happily married lawyer who winds up, quicker than you can say John Grisham, being targeted, chased and spied on by ruthless forces within the National Security Agency. Needless to say, the "huh?" factor is considerable. How exactly does Dean go from peace and quiet to a scene in which he must run away from a helicopter, a truck and a train simultaneously? The screenplay by David Marconi seems to be wired with its own self-destruct mechanism, so that it works within the moment but stops making sense the minute you walk out the door. "Enemy of the State" begins with the murder of a congressman (played by an unbilled Jason Robards) because he opposes a Telecommunications Security and Privacy Act that a certain NSA official (Jon Voight, who modeled his appearance here on Robert McNamara) dearly hopes will pass. But it happens that a nature photographer (Jason Lee, a star of "Chasing Amy") is monitoring geese in the very park where the killing takes place. The photographer becomes toast as soon as he relays this information to someone else by telephone, since there are no such things as unmonitored phone conversations or camera-free buttonholes in this movie. Incidentally, everyone who makes phone calls here tends to be doing at least one other thing -- fiddling with a keyboard, peering at a monitor screen, watching television -- simultaneously. And information is gathered and processed with dizzying rapidity. The real world's hourglass icon, the one that indicates a computer is taking its sweet time about something, is nowhere to be seen. In what passes for crafty plotting here, Dean happens to be buying holiday underwear for his wife (of course it's Christmastime) when the photographer bursts onto the scene and hides a copy of his incriminating evidence in Dean's shopping bag. Suddenly, a whole nerd squad back at headquarters begins studying the configuration of the bag and then monitoring Dean's every move. His house is fitted with more bugs than there are in children's films this season. There's a sensor in his pants. A special dedicated satellite, filmed as if this were "Star Wars," is devoted to chasing him. The question of why one little vote in Congress -- or even one little murder, in this cutthroat context -- is enough to set off such techno-frenzy is one more "huh?" along the way. But Scott comes up with enough snazzy equipment, wild chases and explosive notions (like blowing up the original Dr. Pepper factory in Baltimore) to keep the story moving faster than the speed of scrutiny. And he does use sharp, video-influenced editing more effectively than most (though John Frankenheimer's "Ronin" achieved the same high velocity without benefit of MTV tricks). The film's juxtapositions, sharp angles, jump cuts and aerial surveillance shots (a la the Gulf war) have a rhythm that suits the material. And Scott avoids touches of overkill, like pumped-up emotional heft or an overlay of musical schmaltz. In addition, the filmmakers' claims that actual surveillance capabilities go well beyond what is seen here give added interest, not to mention true menace, to much of what is seen. Making memorable appearances here are Regina King (from "Jerry Maguire") as Dean's sturdy wife; Barry Pepper, Ian Hart and Jake Busey as young thugs on Dean's trail; Lisa Bonet as an ex-girlfriend of Dean's, and Tom Sizemore as a tubby mobster. Gabriel Byrne appears in a brief, baffling role. The film's horde of foxy screens, transmitters, buttonhole cameras and laptops probably deserve an acting credit of their own. "Enemy of the State" is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). It includes mild sexual suggestiveness, occasional violence and one major shootout at its finale. ENEMY OF THE STATE Directed by Tony Scott; written by David Marconi; director of photography, Dan Mindel; edited by Chris Lebenzon; music by Trevor Rabin and Harry Gregson-Williams; production designer, Benjamin Fernandez; produced by Jerry Bruckheimer; released by Touchstone Pictures. Running time: 128 minutes. This film is rated R. WITH: Will Smith (Robert Clayton Dean), Gene Hackman (Brill), Jon Voight (Reynolds), Lisa Bonet (Rachel Banks), Regina King (Carla Dean), Ian Hart (Bingham), Jake Busey (Krug), Barry Pepper (Pratt), Gabriel Byrne (Brill), Tom Sizemore (Pintero), Jason Robards (the congressman) and Jason Lee (Zavitz).

Ryan's Movie Reviews

Enemy of the state.

Dir Tony Scott

Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight,  Lisa Bonet, Regina King, Stuart Wilson, Loren Dean, Ian Hart, Jake Busey, Scott Caan, Jason Lee, Jack Black, Gabriel Byrne, Dan Butler, Jamie Kennedy, Anna Gunn.

When an NSA boss Thomas Reynolds (Voight) has a congressman murdered by his team, in order to get a Bill passed in congress, they discover it was secretly filmed by a nature photographer. When his it was possibly passed to a lawyer Robert Dead (Smith), Reynolds and his team, believing he is holding on to the tape to extort them, start to destroy Dean’s life. Dean, now unemployed, broke and homeless must go to extreme measures to find out what it is Reynolds team want, and to get his life back.

While it is somewhat aged now, when this was released near the end of the 20 th Century – the ‘technology’ used in the film was futuristic at the time of release.

There are plenty of action scenes, as it comes from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, who is the super producer of action films like this, and from such films as Con Air, The Rock, Armageddon, and Bad Boys just to name a few.

The cast are all fine, with Smith in his prime popularity. He handles the action scenes well, and he is able to hold his own as the lead star. Voight, who too was in his resurgeance as the ‘go to villain’ of the late 90s is also fine. It is Hackman who, despite not appearing on screen until an hour into proceedings, really lifts the tone of the film, and strengthens it.

There are plenty of ‘that guy’ as part of Reynolds team, and it’s fun to see people who had not quite made it yet in their early role. One notable mention goes to Jack Black, who was really coming into his celebrity status in the late 90s.

The screenplay is okay, and does what it needs to. There are lots of ‘tech’ talk that worked for the time. The technology is still fairly silly, with the ability to rotate a CCTV to see something the size of a phone drop into a bag. Even 26 years later technology probably couldn’t even do this.

The score is quite engaging and dynamic, and complements the film well.

This still holds up, but obviously due to the current controversies of lead star Will Smith, this might be a turn off.

Seth Green, Tom Sizemore, Jason Robards and Phillip Baker Hall (RIP to the last 3) all appear unbilled.

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AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE's Jeremy Strong Wins 2024 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

The production played a strictly limited 16-week engagement through Sunday, June 16, at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre.

Jeremy Strong has won the 2024 Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.

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Strong is one of his generation’s most respected and versatile actors. For his lead performance as Kendall Roy in the HBO series “Succession,” he was nominated for multiple Emmy and Golden Globes and received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor as well as the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in 2022. Most recently, Strong starred alongside Anne Hathaway and Anthony Hopkins in James Gray ’s critically acclaimed film Armageddon Time, which Focus Features premiered at Cannes. Strong will star in and executive produce Tobias Lindholm’s series “The Best of Us,” which tells the story of the first responders of 9/11 and pays tribute to those impacted, relying on heavily researched accounts.

He is also expected to star in and executive produce a limited series about the controversial 737 Max planes. The untitled project is in development at Amazon Studios with Plan B executive producing. Previously, he starred in Aaron Sorkin ’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 alongside Sacha Baron Cohen, Eddie Redmayne , Joseph Gordon-Levitt , Mark Rylance , Frank Langella and Michael Keaton . The film went on to earn six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Strong co-starred as Vinny Daniel in Adam McKay ’s The Big Short alongside Brad Pitt , Christian Bale , Ryan Gosling , and Steve Carell . The Big Short was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture.  Strong played supporting roles in Steven Spielberg ’s Lincoln, starring Daniel Day-Lewis , which was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and in Kathryn Bigelow ’s Zero Dark Thirty, nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture. Other film work includes Guy Ritchie’s The Gentleman opposite Matthew McConaughey and Colin Farrell ; David Dobkin’s The Judge opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall ; Steven Knight ’s thriller Serenity opposite Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway ; Aaron Sorkin ’s directorial debut Molly’s Game opposite Jessica Chastain ; Kathryn Bigelow ’s drama Detroit about the 1967 Detroit race riots; and Oren Moverman ’s The Messenger opposite Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson . Strong played Lee Harvey Oswald in Peter Landesman ’s acclaimed drama Parkland and James Reeb in Ava DuVernay ’s Selma, which was Oscar nominated for Best Picture. Strong began his career on the stage working in numerous acclaimed Off-Broadway productions, the last one being Amy Herzog ’s The Great God Pan in 2012. He made his Broadway debut in 2008, starring opposite Frank Langella in A Man For All Seasons, directed by Doug Hughes .  Jeremy Strong is a recipient of the Lincoln Center Theater Annenberg Fellowship. He trained at Yale, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theater Company.

Set in a small Norwegian spa town, Ibsen's AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE is about Doctor Thomas Stockmann, a man of principles who discovers that the spa's water is poisoned. He naively expects the mayor to greet the truth with gratitude, but the town's political machine will brook no threat to its prosperity, even if it means letting thousands of people be sickened. Doctor Stockmann becomes a whistleblower, and the public campaign against him mounts, setting up a moral battle between a lone truth teller and a society desperate for self-preservation.

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