Enemy of the State

views updated

Enemy of the State ★★½ 1998 (R)

Paranoia-thriller shows what the nerds would do if they really wanted revenge. After a friend slips him a videocassette without his knowledge, lawyer Robert Dean (Smith) is targeted by a surveillance-and-gizmo-happy government agency headed by the sinister Reynolds (Voight). They hound Dean relentlessly, cutting him off from everything he holds dear by ruining his career and marriage, forcing him underground. Just when he has no place left to turn, he is aided by Brill (Hackman), a remorseful ex-agent who helped create the cyber-surveillance monster. From this point, our two heroes bicker, buddy-film fashion, and things blow up until the inevitable shootout crescendo. Smith's good guy vibe sustains interest in tale of technology run amok. 132m/C VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc . Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Jason Lee, Regina King, Gabriel Byrne, Barry Pepper, Scott Caan, Loren Dean, Jake Busey, Lisa Bonet, Stuart Wilson, Tom Sizemore, James LeGros, Ian Hurt, Dan E. Butler, Jamie Kennedy, Rebeca Silva, Jason Robards Jr., Bobby Boriello, Anna Gunn, Seth Green, Philip Baker Hall, Lillo Brancato, John Capodice, Jack Black, Bodhi (Pine) Elfman; D: Tony Scott; W: David Marconi; C: Dan Mindel; M: Trevor Rabin, Harry Gregson-Williams.