WATCH NOW
Enemies of the State uses the thriller genre to portray what they call the American surveillance society. It depicts underground computers in Fort Meade listening to our phone calls and looking for trigger words like ‘bomb’, ‘president’, or ‘Allah’. Will Smith portrays the role of a Washington, D.C., legal practitioner whose existence gets uprooted completely since he has files that prove a congressman was killed because he opposed legislation that aided government spying.
Interestingly, throughout the majority of the film, the lawyer is completely oblivious to the fact that he has that tape, a recording of a high-ranking official watching the congressman’s pre-faked suicide. The infamous Reynolds, played by Jon Voight, who looks a lot like Robert McNamara with his glasses and hairdo, has a personal grudge against the lawyer and is actively leaking sexually charged false stories, canceling their credit cards, getting the lawyer fired, and ultimately framing him for the murder.
Exaggerated? No doubt, but the movie Enemy of the State made me remember the concerning New York Times column by Anthony Lewis regarding Julie Hiatt Steele. She was an innocent bystander in the Kenneth Starr investigation who had been audited by the IRS and had her neighbors and employers interrogated, all because she testified that Kathleen Willey had asked her to lie about a meeting with President Clinton’s aides and even had her adoption of a war orphan threatened.
The movie emphasizes that the antagonist is not the government but rather the demagogues and backed politicians who manipulate the government for their benefit. The motives of Voight’s character in the movie just correlate with why he is in favor of the legislation. He pretty much knows it will be easier for him (and perhaps make him richer) in the position of power he is currently occupying. He then proceeds to murder the congressman (Jason Robards) because he strongly opposes the bill. The murder cover-up camouflages the motives behind the murder. Everything else follows from the coverup of the murder.
This picture is in the hands of Tony Scott, the director of “Top Gun,” who shoots technology in a manner akin to how the National Geographic approaches filming wetlands. The story is told through a passionate actor and his character, whom he gives their all; Smith’s character is constantly struggling and trying to maneuver around Washington, desperately wanting to understand the underlying details of the situation surrounding him. A combination of satellite imagery, surveillance footage, listening devices, bugs, and wiretaps tell the story. In my early years, I was shocked by how effortlessly satellites could get a zoomed-in view of car license plates. But now, it comes as no surprise when I see how a simple Google search gave me the website. Terra Server by Microsoft can give you a view of your house or someone else’s. It isn’t a shock to think that the NDS could effortlessly read license plates.
The only comrade of the fugitive lawyer is a man known as Brill (Gene Hackman), who is highly regarded in the underground world. Until 1980, Brill was a United States spy. After that, he went underground as an assassin and has led a nearly invisible life. His base of operations is an advanced technology eyrie tucked away in a derelict warehouse, with his gear surrounded by copper mesh to ward off any snoopers. (His voice reminds me of Francis Coppola’s 1974 film The Conversation, where Hackman also had the role of a highly paranoid modern eavesdropper; I assume the studios in the two movies are intentionally designed to be parallel.) Brill is the one who informs the lawyer about what the government is capable of doing. I do not want to accept his claim regarding federal officers having access to wiretapped devices at Fort Meade, but his statement about phone calls made to other areas is blatantly out of reach. Although I do know that there are officials who listen to every phone call made, whether it is legal or not, and so much has been suggested by law, which is not much.
The film’s main premise hinges on action, capturing the viewer’s attention through complex and sophisticated action sequences. It opens with two big chase scenes, explains the significant development gaps that have occurred since 1974, and closes with a brilliantly orchestrated double-cross and shootout. In “The Enemy of the State,” the writer stuffed in small instances of dialogue between the lawyer and his wife (Regina King) as well as his ex-girlfriend (Lisa Bonet), but the emphasis on character each drama requires was ignored. The resulting standoff at the end draws dangerously close to ridiculous, betraying the level of realism they’ve worked so hard to achieve. ‘The Conversation’ is another example of overdependence on intelligent storytelling lacking any form of violence and action, it heavily relied on the pacing of its plot about state-captured paranoia
To watch more movies like Enemy of the State (1998), visit 123movies
Also watch for more movies like:
