Review of Enemy of the State (1998) by Stuart K — 16 Apr 2013

Directed by Tony Scott, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and written by David Marconi (Live Free or Die Hard (2007)), this is a tense, hi-tech thriller which made use of a lot of the modern spying technology that was going on in the world at the time, it's a perfect film for Scott, who puts his fast and glossy look to the film well, and it's stood the test of time well too, and it's a 90's take on those 70's paranoia thrillers.

When corrupt National Security officer Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight) kills Congressman Phil Hammersley (Jason Robards) to ensure a bill regarding surveillance gets passed, the murder was captured on video by wildlife journalist Daniel Zavitz (Jason Lee), with government agents out to kill him, he slips the footage to old college friend, Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith), now a lawyer.

However, when Reynolds discovers Dean has the footage, they go on a mission to ruin his life so he hands it over, at a loose end, Dean has one hope, retired agent Edward Lyle (Gene Hackman), who knows the tricks of the trade, and helps him stay one step ahead of Reynolds and his men.

It's a tense, paranoid thriller with some good action set pieces, which is what Scott was best at. Scott also succeeds at getting an unbelievable supporting cast as well, including faces such as Jack Black, Ian Hart, Seth Green, Tom Sizemore and Gabriel Byrne.