Enemy of the State

Released

Nov 20, 1998

IMDb rating

7.3 / 10 277,381 votes

Recall rating

6.0 / 10 1 rating

Overview

NSA official Thomas Bryan Reynolds meets with U.S. Congressman Phil Hammersley in a public park to discuss support for a new piece of counterterrorism legislation the U.S. Congress is pushing that dramatically expands the surveillance powers of intelligence agencies over individuals and groups. Hammersley remains committed to blocking its passage, since he believes it would almost totally destroy the privacy of U.S. citizens. Reynolds, determined to have the bill pass so as to gain a long-delayed and anticipated promotion within the NSA, has his team murder Hammersley, spread heart pills over his car, place his body in the car and push it in a lake to simulate the cause of death as a heart attack. In the aftermath, they discover that wildlife researcher Daniel Zavitz had a camera aimed in the woods at their location. Zavitz inspects the footage and, realizing he has captured the congressman's murder, calls a journalist he knows. The call is monitored by Reynolds's team who attempt to break into Zavitz's apartment to retrieve the tape. Realizing he is in danger, Zavitz transfers the video to a disc before fleeing the apartment ahead of Reynolds's men.

Studio

Touchstone Pictures

Budget

$90,000,000

Box office

$250,600,000