Enemy of the State

Directed by Tony Scott, Enemy of the State follows Will Smith’s Robert Clayton Dean as he becomes a target after unknowingly receiving top-secret information from a former classmate (Jason Lee’s Daniel Leon Zavitz). It’s a familiar premise that’s employed to consistently watchable (yet undeniably erratic) effect by Scott, as the filmmaker, working from David Marconi’s screenplay, delivers as wildly over-the-top and propulsive an endeavor as one might’ve anticipated – with the far-from-subtle atmosphere perpetuated by Dan Mindel’s kinetic, flamboyant visuals and Scott’s penchant for broadly conceived (and executed) action sequences. And while Smith sporadically seems a little out of his depth here, Enemy of the State boasts (and benefits from) the efforts of an often astonishingly stacked supporting cast that includes Gabriel Byrne, Jon Voight, Tom Sizemore, and Jack Black – although it remains clear, certainly, that Gene Hackman’s all-too-brief appearance as a reclusive hacker remains an palpable highlight within the proceedings. By the time the predictably larger-than-life climax rolls around, Enemy of the State has cemented its place as a prototypically cranked-up Tony Scott endeavor that would’ve worked a whole lot better had it topped out at two hours.

**1/2 out of ****