Watch Enemy of the State For Free

I'll tell you why so serious

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I am unabashedly a Will Smith fan (After all, he is my Philly homeboy). This movie is one of his best, and if you don't believe Big Brother is watching your every move, then you have your head in the sand. Great commentary on government surveillance and its intrusion into our personal privacy.

A successful lawyer finds himself the target of a treacherous NSA official and his entourage after receiving evidence to a politically motivated murder.The only man that can help him is a now retired cranky actor posing as a former government operative turned surveillance expert...........Throwing all aspects of subtlety and realism out of the window from the get go, Enemy Of The State doesn't pretend to be something it isn't, it's nothing more than a flashy, wannabe high tech thriller, that hasn't aged well thanks to its moronic use of security cameras and wanting us, the audience to believe that technology could do that sort of stuff, even 20 years ago.It's the perfect vehicle for Will Smith, this is when he was a major box office draw, but in hindsight, any actor could have played his role, tens years earlier, it would have been Douglas or Ford, now it could still be Smith, Cruise, Hanks. The character is just so one dimensional.Scott's use of quick editing makes the film seem a little more urgent than what it is, but it's still quite spectacular to see a director make decoding something seem so thrilling.Voight plays the spook in the suit, and he does okay, and this film confirms that Seth Green and Jamie Kennedy are not the same person. Hackman, as expected, is the best thing in the film, basically playing an older version of his character from The Conversation, and really puts Smith in his place.Sizemore shows up just to spice the plot up a little at the end, but he looks so ill and obviously on something, he literally sits down in every scene he's in.It's nothing more than a cat and mouse chase film, the catwalk model of cinema, very beautiful to look at, but surprisingly shallow and not as clever as it thinks it is.

I watched ENEMY OF THE STATE when it first came out at the cinema a couple of decades ago and remember really enjoying it. Seeing it today, the film has hardly dated at all and in fact feels more relevant than ever in a world dominated by surveillance technology. I think it's a criminally underrated movie that never gets talked about enough, possibly the highlight of Tony Scott's exciting career, and up there with THE BOURNE IDENTITY (which it feels like it inspired a lot) in terms of screen excitement.I love thrillers that are full of energy and ENEMY OF THE STATE is certainly that. There are some holes in the plot but it all moves so quickly and vibrantly that it doesn't matter at all. Will Smith plays the classic wronged man protagonist and, while he wouldn't be my first choice for the role, he's not too bad here, keeping the comedy aspects to a minimum. The supporting cast is even better, featuring a beautiful role for the excellent Gene Hackman which harks back to THE CONVERSATION, a good baddie in the shape of Jon Voight, and tons of familiar talent in the tech team: Seth Green, Jamie Kennedy, Jack Black, Jake Busey, Scott Caan, Ian Hart, Jason Lee, the list is endless.The film is expertly directed and still feels fresh; more importantly, it still looks good, unlike something like MAN ON FIRE which feels really dated these days. There's a ton of incident in the plot and some great paranoid scenes involving bugs everywhere. The physical action is very strong as well, with exciting chase scenes by foot and vehicle and great twists involving Hackman's character. The ending harks back to TRUE ROMANCE and feels a little blatant, but certainly ties up those loose ends nicely.

Crime-Drama-Thrillers has always been my favorite mix of genres and I was very excited to finally get to watch Enemy of the State. Not only because it was a different role for Will Smith but because of the great all around cast. And boy does it have a great cast. It turned out to be nothing too special. I think it's a decent drama for a Saturday or Sunday morning viewing on cable, but I cant say I'm going to willingly watch it again.The cast truly is terrific though. When you have Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight, Barry Pepper, and even Jack Black all in a movie together you expect greatness. They all give note-worthy performances, but I think the film lacked some focus in this area. At times it tried to give back stories to every one of the characters, even the ones we weren't really suppose to care about. If it were to have focused on only a select few of them, the film would have been more effective. Because of the lack of focus, you end up not really caring for any of the characters.I did really like the premise of the film. It deals with privacy and the effects and impact it has on everyone when it's abused. You begin to question to yourself just how much of our lives are watched and monitored. But I do feel like they could have gone even further with it and made it more personal. The Lives of Others is a much better film based around a similar premise. The film does feel original though. I didn't feel like they were copying any other action film even nearly 20 years after its release. You also definitely feel the 135 minute length. It could have used about a 20 minute trimming job. So with the possible pacing and focus issues the film turns out to be a solid drama, but one that also feels a bit disappointing at the same time.+Original premise +Fascinating privacy concepts +Cast -Pacing and lack of focus issues -Weak supporting characters -Feel the length 6.5/10