Movie Review: Enemy of the State

Enemy of the State

When Enemy of the State was originally released several years ago, it was a frightening glimpse of a possible near-future where government surveillance both eliminated privacy and threatened civil rights. Viewing the movie on video tape now, just about a year after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, it remains frightening, but on a far more real and immediate level.

In Enemy of the State, Will Smith plays a successful Washington lawyer who is happily married to a woman who is also a lawyer, but who works for the ACLU rather than a private firm. Smith finds his wife's paranoia about government inroads into privacy and civil rights to be more amusing than threatening until he inadvertently becomes involved in the attempted cover-up of a political assassination.

Against a back-drop of government attempts to get a privacy bill passed in Congress - a bill which threatens to virtually eliminate privacy rather than protect it - Smith is forced to run for his life from government operatives determined to prevent the revelation of their crimes. As retail and street cameras record his every move, his telephone calls monitored, and electronic surveillance introduced to his home, car, and even his clothing, Smith is never more than the barest step ahead of his pursuers. His lack of knowledge concerning modern surveillance techniques could result in his death, but he manages to get help from a former NSA operative played by Gene Hackman. Together the two fight a losing battle against overwhelming odds.

In Enemy of the State, Smith proves his acting abilities. Gene Hackman is, as one might expect of such a talent, superb in his role as the retired NSA communications expert. John Voight as a shady NSA administrator will make your skin crawl. Combined with a good supporting cast and an engrossing story line, you'll find yourself horrified but unable to look away as an innocent citizen is violated to a greater extent with every passing event by government law enforcement that's gotten well out of hand (and which is virtually identical with what we see enforcement agencies become as of today).

Many of the electronics and surveillance techniques presented in Enemy of the State are real. Others are closer to reality than to wishful thinking. The movie's action is non-stop, but it's impossible not to compare the movie's depiction of a future where citizens are constantly monitored to our own reality involving the ongoing installation of traffic cameras and retail surveillance everywhere, as well as communications monitoring programs like Echelon and Carnivore. Perhaps most frightening of all is the movie's prescience in rationalizing the need for the government to track citizen whereabouts and communications so as to prevent terrorist attacks. And it's positively eerie when the ID card of the high-ranking NSA official behind the assassination and all of Smith's troubles is shown onscreen, and we observe his 1940 birthdate to be September 11th.

NOTE FOR FREEDOM FIGHTERS: Given the subject matter, as well as the mentions of terrorism as rationalization for the elimination of liberties, the week approaching the 9/11 anniversary date is an ideal time for you to rent this movie. Once you've seen it, remember what happens to Will Smith's innocent and law-abiding character, and then take action to help prevent this kind of future in America. Keep in mind: where Enemy of the State is concerned, the future is now, and your action is crucial.

FAMILY SUITABILITY: Enemy of the State is rated R for language and violence. Personally, I saw nothing so graphic that kids of 12 or so and up couldn't see - and hopefully profit from the lessons of - this movie.