I am really not big on those conspiracy, the government is the enemy, no chance for the normal guy type of movies so I went into this movie hoping for a good action flick to hold up the story. However, I was pleasantly suprised by Enemy of the State, even if it is very similiar to several other movies. Not only did it have action, but it had good acting, and a story that actually kept me interested.
Bobby Dean (Will Smith) and his conspiracy loving friend, Brill (Gene Hackman)
This movie starts out with Thomas Brian Reynolds (Jon Voight), a deputy something or other with the National Security Agency (NSA) lobbying to a U.S. Senator by a lake about a bill in Congress that would allow the NSA to monitor even more aspects of our lives. The Senator says he cannot support a bill that invades every Americans life and since the Senator has a lot of influence Reynolds orders him killed by one of his men. They then stage it to look like a heart attack where the Senators car goes into the lake. Unfortunately for Reynolds their was an environmentalist named Daniel Zavitz (Jason Lee) who had government permission to monitor geese migration patterns and who had a camera that videotaped the whole thing. With the help of the NSA's vast resources, which allow them to monitor and follow any one of us, Reynolds sends a team to eliminate Zavitz... but Zavitz isn't stupid so he makes a copy of the tape and runs away. In the ensuing chase Zavitz runs into Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith), an old college buddy and now lawyer in D.C. Zavitz secretly slips the copy into Robert's (I shall call him Bobby from know on) bag. Eventually the NSA thugs catch Zavitz and they figure out that he slipped Bobby the copy. So now it is time for Bobby to run from the NSA hooligans. Half-way through his running Bobby runs into Brill (Gene Hackman), a former agent with the NSA who is now a conspiracy theory nut kind of guy (kind of like Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory, only more technically skilled). With thier combined talents, Brill and Bobby figure out a way to take down Reynolds and keep him out of their lives.
The enemy, Reynolds (Jon Voight, standing) and his croonies
Like I said, the plot of Enemy of the State has nothing that really sets it apart from every other conspiracy related, action flick... but it does have a lot going for it. First off, anytime the plot starts to get a little weak the writers through in a breathtaking action sequence that forces you to pay attention. I have to give credit to the writers on this one, even if the story itself isn't original at all, it is perfectly timed so that any time the plot gets thin, in comes the action to save it and any time the action gets to long, in comes an interesting new plot twist to keep you watching. Second, the acting is very well done. Will Smith plays a very likable character who is extremely smart and full of charisma. Gene Hackman plays the slightly crazy, experienced conspiracy nut nearly flawlessly, and Jon Voight plays a very convincing villian, complete with the rat like qualities that make you dislike him. It is really hard to descibe what makes this movie so good... but it really is something that you won't want to miss.
