Enemy of the State
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Enemy of the State is a 1998 film starring Will Smith, Gene Hackman and Jon Voight.
The premise of the film is the impending introduction of legislation to limit law enforcement agencies in their powers. Senator Phil Hammersleigh (Jason Robards, uncredited), who is involved in the legislation, is killed by rogue NSA agents supervised by Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight). The operatives are not aware that the murder is being filmed by an automated device used to track populations of geese.
A geese population researcher named Daniel Zavitz (Jason Lee) removes the tape from the device. Upon playing it, Zavitz discovers that it contains footage of the murder. However, Zavitz is seen by an NSA agent while recovering the tape from its camera. The agents pursue Zavitz.
Will Smith plays Robert Clayton Dean, a lawyer working in trade union cases. While shopping for his wife, Dean encounters Zavitz, who is fleeing NSA agents. Zavitz drops the videotape into Dean's shopping bag and escapes, only to be killed in traffic. Using high-tech satellite technology, the NSA quickly discovers that Dean must be in possession of the tape, and a chase develops.
The only person who might be able to help Dean is Brill (Gene Hackman), who traces the rogue unit in the NSA. Together they stage an encounter between the NSA agents and a mafia representative (Tom Sizemore, uncredited) who has been threatening Dean. A large shootout ensues, with Dean and Brill among the survivors. The plot to undermine the legislation is revealed.
The movie had a TSCM consultant in the staff (who also played a minor role as a spy shop merchant), which accounts for the unusual-for-Hollywood degree of gadget realism in the movie.
See also
- Conspiracy thriller
- Enema of the State, a music album which came out a year later