Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
Will Smith | ... | Robert Clayton Dean | |
Gene Hackman | ... | Edward Lyle | |
Jon Voight | ... | Thomas Brian Reynolds | |
Lisa Bonet | ... | Rachel F. Banks | |
Regina King | ... | Carla Dean | |
Stuart Wilson | ... | Congressman Sam Albert | |
Laura Cayouette | ... | Christa Hawkins | |
Loren Dean | ... | Hicks | |
Barry Pepper | ... | David Pratt | |
Ian Hart | ... | Bingham | |
Jake Busey | ... | Krug | |
Scott Caan | ... | Jones | |
Jason Lee | ... | Daniel Zavitz | |
Gabriel Byrne | ... | Brill | |
James Le Gros | ... | Jerry Miller |
Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) is a mild-mannered lawyer who works in Washington, D.C. He is on the trail of a kingpin named Paulie Pintero (Tom Sizemore). Meanwhile, a politician named Thomas Brian Reynolds (Jon Voight) is negotiating with Representative Phillip Hammersley (Jason Robards, Jr.) about a new surveillance system with satellites. But, Hammersley declines; Reynolds has Hammersley killed, but the murder is caught on tape, and the taper is chased by Reynolds' team of N.S.A. Agents. The guy must ditch the tape, so he plants it on Dean (unbeknownst to Dean). Then, the N.S.A. decides to get into Dean's life. That is when Dean's life began to fall apart all around him, with his wife and job both gone. Dean wants to find out what is going on. Then, he meets a man named "Brill" (Gene Hackman), who tells him that Dean has something that the government wants. Dean and Brill formulate a plan to get Dean's life back and turn the tables on Reynolds. Written by John Wiggins
Jon Voight, Will Smith, and Gene Hackman are the three stars who make this movie interesting. Voight is a rogue NSA operative and Smith quite accidentally gets on his trail without even realizing it. Hackman provides the key to exposing the crooks and facilitating a reasonable ending. Watching this movie makes you wonder how much of the surveillance depicted can really be done today by our governments. Although the movie has its share of violence, and an ending out of Reservoir Dogs, it also is sprinkled with some good humor. If you like action and espionage, then you'll like this movie. The DVD picture and soundtrack are both excellent. I give the movie overall 8 of 10.