Enemy of the State . Newcity Chicago . 11-23-98

Enemy of the State

DIRECTED BY: Tony Scott

REVIEWED: 11-23-98

There's a decent thriller lurking somewhere inside "Enemy of the State," but an overly earnest presentation and several painful missteps doom the Tony Scott-directed, Simpson/Bruckheimer-produced film to second-tier status. Every point is ham-handedly hammered home as if the creative team relied on the old public-relations adage "Tell 'em what you're gonna tell 'em, tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told 'em." And that's too bad, because the film's thesis--that current communications technology has brought us to the brink of a security state bereft of privacy--is a plausible one. Gene Hackman is strong as the ex-spook who serves as grudging ally to Will Smith's good man in the wrong place at the wrong time. But Hackman's even better in "The Conversation," the 1974 Francis Ford Coppola masterpiece on the same topic.

--Frank Sennett

Full Length Reviews
Enemy of the State

Capsule Reviews
Enemy of the State
Enemy of the State
Enemy of the State

Other Films by Tony Scott
Crimson Tide
The Hunger

Film Vault Suggested Links
The Peacemaker
Invasion USA
Assassins

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