Enemy of the State

USA Today Mike Clark

The picture is solidly crafted, performed to the hilt and full of humor.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

An enormously entertaining visit to planet paranoia, but its escapist pleasures titillate only in direct proportion to the degree of persecution complex that you bring into the theater with you.

The New York Times Elvis Mitchell

It has a hurtling pace, nonstop intensity and a stylish, appealing performance by Will Smith in his first real starring role.

Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan

A solid and satisfying commercial venture with more than enough pizazz to overcome occasional lapses in moment-to-moment plausibility.

Rolling Stone Peter Travers

Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott have wisely set their course by Will Smith, who is sensational in a dramatic role that leans on him to carry a movie without the help of aliens or Big Willie-style jokes for every occasion.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

A kicky, knockout thriller that ingeniously taps into the current climate of paranoia surrounding personal privacy in the Information Age.

San Francisco Examiner Edvins Beitiks

Everything you would want from a Big Brother film: Good-looking, preachy in an Old West kind of way, wobbling between humor and murder, hellbent and periodically brilliant.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

In too much of a hurry to be much of a people picture. And the standoff at the end edges perilously close to the ridiculous, for a movie that's tried so hard to be plausible.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

It offers a solid two hours of pure, escapist entertainment.

Entertainment Weekly Staff(not credited)

A high-adrenaline, high-concept action thriller that mixes hot-button issues of privacy and surveillance, easy-to-identify good and bad guys, attention-getting stars, and well-choreographed chase scenes.

Newsweek Jack Kroll

The scary fun of the movie is embodied in a brilliantly filmed and edited chase sequence in which Smith tries to escape the ubiquitous cyber-eyes that see every inch of his flight.

Village Voice Dennis Lim

Enemy of the State isn't really a smart film, but it makes a concerted stab at pretending to be one.

Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector

The social criticism is as unforced as the humor (and the references to "The Conversation") in this 1998 conspiracy thriller, whose spirited action is balanced by an almost contemplative attitude toward surveillance phobias and the movie cliches they've spawned.

Variety Emanuel Levy

Sporadically entertaining, though it lacks the kind of political urgency and emotional resonance so crucial to many similarly themed '70s movies.

LA Weekly Manohla Dargis

This paranoid thriller has all the failings we expect...but Enemy of the State also has enough wit, talent and narrative thrust to mostly transcend those flaws, at least until that ludicrous finish.

Washington Post Rita Kempley

The dazzle doesn't make up, however, for the movie's lack of depth.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Tony Scott's thriller is flashy, but it's not dead stupid and it's never dull.

The New Yorker David Denby

The movie goes like the wind, but it's more a technological exercise than anything else.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

The movie has plenty of high-tech power, spinning out action so explosive you'll hardly notice how preposterous the story is or how cardboard-thin the characters are.

Film Threat Ron Wells

The strong parts are the rip-offs of "The Conversation." The worst part is the lack of understandable character motivations.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

A frustrating film that feels cobbled together.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

To say Enemy of the State is senseless is an understatement. This is a movie where logic is the enemy.