Enemy of the State (1998)

Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight

Synopsis:
A lawyer is targeted by the NSA when he stumbles upon evidence of the assassination of a congressman.

Impressions:
For a time, I was under the mistaken impression that because they were produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, both this movie and Con Air were directed by Michael Bay just like The Rock, which gave me a much more positive view of Bay's filmography. Needless to say, I was giving him far too much credit. Credit where credit's due, this film was directed by Tony Scott. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about the movie itself. This came out around the time when the NSA was the new hotness in clandestine organizations in cinema. This has a lot more resonance now that that the NSA has been making such a splash in the headlines. While there are some fantastic elements to how things work, but the NSA's blanket denials at the time fall a little flat in face of recent revelations about their activities, but let's not waste your time with politics, we're talking about a movie. This is a top-notch thriller with some very good performances. Will Smith and Gene Hackman make a great pair and Jon Voight plays off the cold amoral NSA official perfectly. There are a lot of familiar faces in the cast which make for a nice all-around package. There's good action accompanied by a good score by Harry Greggson-Williams and Trevor Rabin. The finale is magnificent. If you like thrillers, you need to see it. Better yet, add it to your collection. It's worth it.

Rating:
Own It