Big Brother Is Watching
Enemy Combines Information and Intrigue

Survelliance cameras exist on many street corners and in most public buildings. Computers contain gigabytes of information, from credit card purchases to videotape rentals. In Enemy of the State, the privacy of American citizens is at stake -- and all in the name of national security.

The new film, from producer Jerry Bruckheimer, offers a story of paranoia and intrigue mixed with modern technology. John Voight plays Thomas Reynolds, a National Security Agency administrator whose illegal activities have been inadvertantly recorded by an enviromentalist (Jason Lee). Employing the vast resources at his disposal, Reynolds tracks down the man in an attempt to retrieve the tape.

While leading the agency on a wild chase through the city, the man passes off the evidence to Robert Dean (Will Smith), a labor lawyer in Washington, DC. Afterward, Dean finds his world falling apart as his family, career, and private life are unraveled by the NSA. Before long, he too is on the run, trying to clear his name and find the reason for the NSA's interest in him.

Dean, early in the film, debates his wife about privacy saying, "What do I have to worry about? I'm not going to blow up any buildings!" The question assumes that those in power will never use such power against good citizens. But those in power are mere mortals, capable of evil as well as good -- as Dean soon discovers.

Smith does an excellent job of playing Dean, a sympathetic man whose private life is being poked and prodded by persons unknown, putting his career and marriage in jeopardy. Voight, who has played some nasty characters recently, manages to be even more ruthless than in the past.

Gene Hackman, who -- despite getting second billing -- doesn't show up until half-way through the movie, plays a mysterious contact named Brill who dropped out of society 18 years ago. Hackman's portrayal of Brill is excellent, right down to his 1960s haircut and horn-rimmed glasses. The man can do no wrong, lately. I love him in every role he plays.

While most of Enemy of the State consists of chase scenes and paranoid intrigue, it is not just a remake of Conspiracy Theory or The Man Who Knew Too Much. It digs into the current paranoia surrounding privacy issues and technology and gets to the heart of the matter. Shouldn't privacy be a right, not a privilege?

The next time you watch those "Caught On Tape" television specials on FOX, you might think twice about those people you're watching. Whose to say that next time it won't be you?

MY RATING: 7 out of 10.

RATED: R
RUN TIME: 132 min.