...it's action, not acting, that is the key to its success, and that's where the film excels with its constant momentum.
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Did you ever have the feeling someone was watching you? The atmosphere of paranoia is rampant in "Enemy of the State" as it takes the notion to the extreme. It's a high-tech, high-energy version of "North By Northwest" for the nineties, with none of the latter film's subtlety or grace. It tries to be topical by questioning whether the government should be allowed to compromise the public's right to privacy if the public welfare is at stake. But it soon loses interest in the philosophical dilemma by exaggerating the plot actions well out of proportion to the question.
In other words, it takes the serious issue of Big Brother monitoring us and turns it into typical Hollywood hokum. Nonetheless, as standard conspiracy films go, this one is a cut above the rest thanks to director Tony Scott's nonstop forward thrust. It's a respectable suspense thriller.
Will Smith stars as a Washington attorney, Robert Clayton Dean. He inadvertently gets passed a video that a top government agency wants very badly. Why? Because the tape confirms that the agency had a hand in the murder of a U.S. senator. With every possible surveillance gadget at their disposal, the agency plants bugs all over Dean's house, clothes, and possessions and begins to track his every move with cameras, microphones, and satellites in an effort to get the tape back. Before long, the agency has Dean's wife convinced that Dean is unfaithful, they've canceled his credit cards, lost him his job, and discredited his life. By then everyone is after him.
His only assistance comes from a former agency employee, long since gone underground, played by Gene Hackman (shades of "The Conversation"). Together, they try to get back at the agency that is so intent on continuing its cutthroat ways. There is also a subplot about Dean's involvement with the Mob that seems irrelevant at first but ties in neatly, if too coincidentally, at the end.
I have only the highest regard for Will Smith; he is among the most charming and likable stars around. However, he brings some audience preconceptions with him that are hard to shake. He is known mainly for comedy and for his roles in sci-fi fantasy films--"Independence Day," "Men in Black," "Wild, Wild West." Admittedly, "Enemy of the State" is close to fantasy, yet it's hard to find Smith plausible in a movie that takes itself so seriously. Maybe Harrison Ford or Denzel Washington could have pulled it off, but even Mel Gibson had trouble of a similar kind in "Conspiracy Theory." At some points, Smith's character is brilliant and resourceful, more than a match for the evil agency pursuing him. At other times he behaves foolishly; like knowing full well that the agency has everything bugged, he calls his wife, anyway, giving away his location for the sake of the plot.
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