Review of Enemy of the State (1998) by Rick R — 27 Jul 2010

Enemy of the State (1998).

This is a great Tony Scott actioner starring Will Smith as Robert Clayton Dean; a lawyer who works for various lefty types. Then one day, he's been given a disc containing some key evidence that a senator didn't die of a heart attack but was black-ops hit by a power-hungry NSA official, Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight) and his men. Naturally, these unscrupulous men are using every surveillance gadget at their disposal to find and kill Robert and bury the evidence.

Robert is on the run and gets help from an ex-NSA agent Edward 'Brill' Lyle (Gene Hackman sort of renewing his Harry Caul character from "The Conversation" [1974]) who shows him how to get off the grid to stay alive.

The main crux of the story is how so much of our lives is now under surveillance. And, this is all before 9-11and eight years of Bush/Chaney. In all fairness, nobody has taken down any cameras since Obama/Biden either. We're now seven times more likely to be on somebody's security camera. Our cell phones have GPS and can be listened-in on our conversations even when the phones are turned off.

So, we are now pretty accustomed to other people hearing, seeing and knowing where we are and what we're doing. But not too long ago, this was all something new and unimaginable and there was a big chance of this being abused by sinister forces. We've just chosen to accept it now, is all.