FILM CRITIQUE

Enemy of The State

Enemy of the State

Introduction

Enemy of the State is a classical tale of good versus evil, complete with a tortured hero and a powerful villain. The plot revolves around Washington lawyer Robert Dean (Will Smith), an average family man, who suddenly finds his life turned upside down when an old acquaintance slips a video tape that no one is supposed to ever see into his shopping bag[1]. The tape contains footage of the murder of a United States senator by a member of the National Security Agency (NSA). When agents at the NSA get word that Dean is in possession of the tape, they proceed to ruin his career, drive him from his home, and threaten his life in an attempt to get the tape back. Thus begins Dean's fight for survival and his struggle to regain what has been taken from him. Along the way, he crosses paths with Brill (Gene Hackman), a former NSA agent who hates his old employer.

Storytelling

Robert Dean is a hotshot young attorney on the fast track to prominence. There's little he won't do for a client, including tangling with known mobsters. Robert's wife, Carla (Regina King), is also a lawyer, but, unlike her husband, she's strictly by-the-book[2]. Her passion is the Constitution, and she doesn't like what she sees in a new piece of legislation up for a vote on Capitol Hill that will give the National Security Agency (NSA) the power to use any kind of advanced, electronic surveillance equipment without previous permission or authorization. Robert essentially ignores Carla's gripes, figuring that this kind of law will never affect him. He's wrong. The wheels are already in motion. An incriminating digital tape passed on to him without his knowledge is about to put his life and family in danger as government agents seek to clean up all evidence of a sanctioned murder.

The victim was a United States congressman. The culprit was Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight), a high-ranking State Department official on loan to the NSA who felt that the congressman's opposition to the surveillance bill would ground it. Unfortunately for Reynolds, the killing was captured on camera by a naturalist (Jason Lee) studying geese migration. Before Reynolds' team can eliminate the witness, he slips a copy of the tape into one of Robert's shopping bags. The NSA realizes this, although Robert doesn't, and he suddenly finds himself in the crosshairs without understanding why. With his life being systematically dismantled (credit cards canceled, wife thinking he's having an affair, fired from his job), he seeks out the mysterious Brill, a shady contact who may hold the key to his situation. But who is Brill? A tough-talking stranger (Gabriel Byrne) who corners him in a lavatory? A pugnacious nerd (Gene Hackman) who threatens him with bodily harm? Or someone else? [3]

Although this is Will Smith's movie, he is supported by a fine cast. Gene Hackman, who is capable of playing just about any type of role, portrays a brilliant-but-antisocial ...