Intermission

by Jim Wunderle

"Enemy of the State"

Directed by: Tony Scott

Starring: Will Smith, Gene Hackman, Jon Voight

Rated: R

I'm not really what one might term a conspiracy theorist, but over the years, work has kept me involved with a fair amount of high-tech equipment. As anyone who has kept up with the Internet over the last decade will tell you, technology hardware and software has been accelerating at a phenomenal rate.

If you have Internet access and want to have some fun, before seeing Tony Scott's new techno-action thriller "Enemy of the State," log on and set your browser to

www.terraserver.microsoft.com.

What you'll find there will thrill you, disturb you or maybe a little of both. You can type in the name of a city, a well-known landmark, even a ZIP Code and be treated to satellite photos of that area. Zoom in, pan left the images are good enough that if you're like one of my industrious friends, you might even be able to find your own house.

Keep in mind that these images and the entire country is here are ones that have been declassified. One can only imagine what kind of view the powers that be have from space nowadays.

That notion, along with a whole slew of state-of-the-art, high-tech gadgetry is at the paranoid heart of "Enemy of the State."

Director Tony Scott has had fun with technology before ("Top Gun," "Crimson Tide") but here he really relishes the visual imagery he's able to play with while representing these cutting-edge toys of the spy trade.

I was actually a little worried going into this film, taking note that it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, whose last film, "Armageddon," set new standards for annoying sound and editing, and overall bombastic approach.

While there are a lot of dizzying cuts and special effects here, there's an engaging story, as well, and Scott has chosen his cast wisely. From a brief appearance by Jason Robards, to star Will Smith and especially veteran Gene Hackman, everyone seems at home in their respective roles. Scott even pays a bit of an homage to a role Hackman played earlier in Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation."

Smith, not cracking quite as wise as in "Men in Black" but still funny, plays Robert Dean, a Washington, D.C., labor attorney who is caught between one of his clients and a mob boss. What he doesn't know is that a chance encounter with an old college buddy has him directly in the sights of the National Security Agency, a wing of the U.S. government.

His house is vandalized; he loses his job because of a phony newspaper story; someone sends pictures of him and an old flame to his wife; even his credit cards are canceled.

This seems like something a little too in-depth for Mafia guys to carry out, and eventually Dean figures out he apparently has something that someone wants. What he doesn't know is what that is or who actually wants it, but whoever they are, they're good at making life miserable.

His old flame, Rachel, is actually a go-between for Robert and a private eye who has done a lot of work in the lawyer's labor cases. He finally meets the man, Brill, played by Gene Hackman, who tells him that the only people who can wreak this kind of havoc on a person's personal life are those at the NSA. He also says to keep away from him, because he's sure that Robert doesn't have too long to live.

When Robert finally figures out what he has that the NSA wants (and it's a doozy) he tracks Brill down again, and the two spend the remainder of the film trying to save their own skins while turning the tables on the folks from the NSA. Brill, it turns out, knows a thing or two about electronics himself.

A lot of the gadgets and procedures portrayed here seem far-fetched, and I'm sure (as anyone who has a computer knows) they can't be as quick, easy and flawless as we're led to believe. On the other hand, knowing the state of the art and the speed with which things are progressing, none of this stuff seems beyond the realm of current possibility.

If you don't mind a bit of edgy paranoia, "Enemy of the State," with its great cast, a story that gets you involved and high-tech visuals is the best action film on screen this fall.

(Jim Wunderle works at Associated Video Producers and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician.)

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