Primp Your Paranoia: Big Brother's Your `Enemy'

They know everything about you. They know your name, your social security number and how many credit cards you have. Their tools range from monstrous orbiting surveillance satellites and miniscule listening devices. If you are on their enemy list, they can destroy your family, your credibility, your finances and your life by pressing a few buttons. Their state-of-the-art technology makes them omnipotent and omniscient in this computer age, utilizing the Internet, telephone lines and microwave transmissions to pinpoint your location and observe your actions anywhere you try to hide. Even though most conspiracy theorists profess the above statements as absolute facts, rarely can they answer one simple question: who are "they?" Enemy of the State is yet another movie with a central character who is desperately trying to answer this question. This time, the result is a thrilling, high-paced, intense battle between Will Smith and technologically advanced, government-controlled computer geeks that offers little time for breathing.

Will Smith is Robert Dean, a D.C. labor lawyer involved in a violent union dispute involving the mafia. Dean receives incriminating evidence for his trials from his old girlfriend (Lisa Bonet of "The Cosby Show" fame), who works as an agent of a secretive, unknown informant namd Brill (a grizzled Gene Hackman). Dean lives the perfect American life with a loving wife, wonderful children, a beautiful house and his prized juice blender. But everything changes when a bird-watcher (Jason Lee) catches the execution of a venerable U.S. Congressman by the head of the National Security Agency (Jon Voight). Soon, Dean is unknowingly in possession of the video and is the target of surveillance and public defamation. Underlying this story is a controversial congressional bill in response to the threat of terrorism that would legalize unwarranted observation by the government of any suspected individual.

The basic premise is a tired one, found most recently in such films as The Fugitive, The Net, The Pelican Brief and Conspiracy Theory. At times, Enemy of the State seems to steal directly from these predecessors. There is even a chase scene in a huge storm drain that is quite reminiscent of Harrison Ford's famous escape from Tommy Lee Jones '69 in the first movie mentioned above. Also, there are a few conspicuous references to 1984 by George Orwell and A Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Despite the similarities, Enemy of the State manages to be intense, gripping and original, keeping the audience captivated and involved in the action for a full two hours. In fact, the intensity is so high that at times the film seems a bit lengthy, keeping the viewers waiting nervously on the edge of their seats for the relieving denouement.

But the main appeal of this movie is not the literary references, but the highpaced action. There are exploding buildings, flaming cars, bikers being run over ambulances and Will Smith in his underwear. Director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide) wastes little time between action sequences, building up an almost unbearable intensity, augmented by fast camera cuts and quick scene changes. Yet the overall effect is not a choppy compilation of distinct scenes, but a broad tapestry of chases, gunfire, high-tech tracking devices and explosions, coupled with a moderate portion of complicated plot development.

The pervasive use of technological gadgets is often confusing, but the audience has an ally in the naive Robert Dean. Will Smith plays the role with boyish charisma and power, using his wit, charm and physical strength to elude his pursuers. Despite the subject matter of his last two movies (Independence Day and Men in Black), Smith proves that his appeal lies in his own acting abilities rather than his adorable extra terrestrial counterparts. Enemy of the State demonstrates Smith's range of talents and solidifies his position as a major Hollywood force, not just a rap artist-turned-actor.

Despite Smith's stellar performance, the film's most interesting character is Brill, played wonderfully by Hackman. He is a dark and bitter ex-agent of the National Security Agency out for revenge against the institution that forsook him. His motivations are skewed, actions devious and intent unknown. In one moment he condemns Dean's ignorance and uselessness; in another he courageously saves Dean's life. The chemistry between Hackman and Smith is powerful, as the two reluctant heroes transform initial self-interest into teamwork. The ending is a contrived and coincidental as a novel by Charles Dickens, but does not subtract from the film's overall appeal.

The subject matter of Enemy of the State is not complete nonsense, as the threat of constant surveillance is a fear in our modern world in the computer age. With a few PIN numbers and observational satellites, your life could be easily monitored and destroyed by a voyeuristic agency with the right technology and intelligence. The threat of terrorism increased by such atrocities as the Oklahoma City bombing has set some lawmakers into a fearful frenzy over preventive measures. And with cameras sitting on the top of traffic signals at intersections in England, can such surveillance techniques become policy in the United States? Is privacy an eroding right in the age of pervasive and powerful technology? These are interesting questions raised by Enemy of the State, and will no doubt be issues debated on the floor of Congress over the next few years. One day, Big Brother could be watching you.