Enemy of the State

Hi-tech, low brow

As a U.S. politician (Jason Robards) exercises his dog by a lake, Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight), a senior member of a government intelligence agency, tries to persuade him to vote for a new telecommunication act which will give the government increased powers to spy on its citizens. When the politician resists, one of Reynold's accomplices kills him and makes his death seem like an accident. Unfortunately for Reynolds, an environmentalist had positioned a video camera to study the lake shore, and the murder is captured on tape.

Meanwhile, Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith), a union lawyer, is attempting to extricate a couple of his clients from the attentions of a mobster, Pintero (Tom Sizemore). His ploy is to hire a private eye, Brill, to secretly videotape Pintero in a situation which violates his parole conditions. When Dean attempts to use the video to bargain with Pintero, the mobster demands the tape within a week or he'll kill Dean.

Once Reynolds realises the existence of the environmentalist's videotape, he sends his agents after him. The environmentalist dies trying to flee, but not before he slips the tape to the unwitting Dean. When Reynolds discovers that Dean may have the tape, he assembles a team of agents to retrieve the tape and discredit Dean (in case he manages to publicise the tape). As Dean's professional and private life begins to disintegrate, he is forced into hiding while he tries to figure out what's happening (he still thinks the campaign against him has been orchestrated by Pintero). Dean's prospects for survival look decidedly slim until he receives assistance (however begrudging) of Brill (Gene Hackman) who is also a surveillance expert. The two team up in an attempt to stay alive and to untangle the murder conspiracy.

Any movie directed by Tony Scott and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer comes with certain production values. There is always an industrial sheen to the finished product; as seamless, slick and glistening as a Mercedes engine. The editing is fast-paced and assured and the action sequences are polished and plentiful. Previous joint efforts, such as Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and Crimson Tide, were unashamedly macho, action-paced adventure movies; perfect fixes for adrenaline junkies or fans of 'boys with toys'. This time, the toys are all sorts of surveillance equipment. High-resolution satellite imaging, miniature microphones, phone tapping and of course, a bunch of gung-ho techno-geeks to operate them. However, the makers of Enemy of the State seem to have loftier aspirations :- not merely to entertain but to make people think about how the state can intrude into every aspect of a person's life with impunity.

These aspirations are dented by the fact that Enemy of the State has absolutely nothing new to say or show to us about either the power of modern surveillance techniques or the willingness of ruthless government agencies to exploit them. Sure, we see satellites spin into position, photographs are enhanced, phones are tapped, all with a few clicks of a computer keyboard. Big deal ! During the Nineties, we have seen plenty of movies which have shown the power of surveillance and the vulnerability of communications and computer systems. Movies such as Sneakers, The Net and Goldeneye (none of which could be accused of being a classic) have all covered this ground. And as for movies about government agents abusing power and conspiring against unwitting citizens ? - hell, the X-Files alone have stretched years out of such a premise.

The movie fares much better as a straightforward action thriller. This is not so much due to David Marconi's script, which relies far too much on coincidence, but on the aforementioned talents of Scott and Bruckheimer and their choice of big name stars for their movies. Both have previously worked with Gene Hackman (Crimson Tide) and Bruckheimer had produced Bad Boys . And it is their performances which make this movie worth watching. Given that the first half of the movie doesn't feature Hackman at all, Smith's performance is confident without being showy, and he makes the best of the material. The movie gets a lot better when Hackman arrives. What a pity that Voight, Sizemore, Lisa Bonet are wasted through lack of screen-time or crudely-drawn characterisation. Voight's character (and performance) is a tired copy of his role in Mission:Impossible, and Sizemore seems to be doing a very bad impression of Al Pacino in Scarface.

A pity, too, that the characters are so limited by the shortcomings of the script. It's always a bad sign when characters must something stupid in order to advance the plot. Hence, Dean makes a phone call which helps Reynolds' team get back on his trail even though he has been warned by Brill that his home and office is bugged. Later, Brill and Dean stop to argue while they are being chased by a helicopter and vanloads of gun-toting agents. Welcome to Lethal Weapon country! However, it is the bad guys who lead the way in stupidity. First of all, would such a senior spy such as Reynolds have a senator murdered in the open (and in his presence) where anyone could turn up at any time ? Unlikely. Furthermore, since Reynolds is prepared to kill anyone who opposes him, why not kidnap Dean's wife or son until he returns the tape. Much cheaper than satellites.

As the movie progresses towards its climax, any pretensions of even being a thriller are abandoned in favour of all-out action, leading to a resolution that is both far too convenient and frankly unbelievable. It will also be very familiar to anyone who has seen Tony Scott's previous movies. One aspect of the movie did intrigue me, though :- I wonder if scriptwriter David Marconi is any relation of Guglielmo Marconi, one of the founding fathers of modern communications ?

Overall, this is a very ordinary movie indeed.

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