Enemy of the State (1998)

A lawyer becomes a target by a corrupt politician and his N.S.A. goons when he accidentally receives key evidence to a serious politically motivated crime.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writer:

David Marconi

Stars:

Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight

5 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

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

Storyline

Robert Dean is a mild-mannered lawyer who works in Washington, D.C. He is on the trail of a kingpin named Pintero. Meanwhile, a politician named Thomas Reynolds is negotiating with Representative Phillip Hammersley 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" 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.

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Plot Keywords:

on the run | conspiracy | nsa | surveillance | congressman | 

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Taglines:

It's not paranoia if they're really after you.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Mystery | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and violence

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Enemigo público

Filming Locations:

4809 Boston St, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$90,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$20,038,573, 22 November 1998, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$111,549,836

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$250,649,836

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures,Jerry Bruckheimer Films,Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

132 min 140 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gene Hackman turned down the film several times, but was ultimately convinced to sign on after a phone call by Director Tony Scott. Will Smith later signed on at a relative post-Independence Day (1996) bargain price because he wanted to work with Hackman.

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Goofs

As Will Smith goes into the janitor's closet and starts the fire, the door swings into the closet and he then blocks it from opening with the cart. When the fireman chops a few holes in the door with the ax, and pulls it out into the hall. The door stops on the jamb would prevent the door from coming into the hall that easy. It would have to have been an outswing door.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Congressman Phillip Hammersley: Come on. Come on, mutt. Now, look at that ball. All right. Come on, get that ball. Ah!

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Crazy Credits

The producers wish to thank the mayor, city council, and citizens of Baltimore, MD.

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Connections

Referenced in Spy Game (2001)

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Soundtracks

Hark the Herald Angels Sing
Music by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1840) (uncredited)
Arranged by Richard Harvey
Courtesy of APM

User Reviews

The best Will Smith movie to date!

I enjoyed ENEMY OF THE STATE very very much. I like Will Smith, even though I found WILD WILD WEST very disappointing, and I thought this movie looked great when advertised. I was not disappointed. This is by far better than any of Will Smith's movies so far.

Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith) seems to have an average American life. He has a pretty wife and a fine young son, as well as his own house and a successful job as a lawyer. But when he accidentally finds himself with evidence of politician Thomas Brian Reynolds (Jon Voight) killing somebody, his entire life is in jeopardy. His job destroyed, his reputation tarnished and his life in danger by Renolds and a gang of military soldiers and hackers, he turns to a friend, Rachel Banks (Lisa Bonet). She leads him to Brill, (Gene Hackman) a paranoid informant who is also on the run from the government, to help him.

The acting in this movie is great. Will Smith is at his absolute best in this movie, but the spotlight does probably belong to Gene Hackman for his part as Brill. Seth Green also does a great job as what started as a cameo and became a vital part of the movie. Jon Voight is superb as the evil politician, Lisa Bonet does well as Smith's ex-girlfriend, and Regina King does a fair job as Smith's wife. All of the characters are cool and interesting, especially those of Smith, Hackman, Voight and Green.

The action is this movie is terrific. There are some very entertaining chases, both car and foot, as well as gunfights and explosions. The ending is also pretty cool. The realism is a little far fetched, (especially when Will Smith goes into a lingerie shop and there are tons of good looking girls modeling it all over the store) but it is believable enough for the viewer to have fun.

I really enjoyed this movie and will buy it first chance I get. Go out and rent it and enjoy, you'll probably feel the same way.