August 99: Enemy of the State | ||
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by Sékou
"Big Willie Style, Indeed" Will Smith is more a force of nature than a person, muscling his way though music, then TV, and finally he is staking his claim on the silver screen. It's quite a claim he's staked as well. Two of his first major movies, Independence Day and Men In Black, were among the biggest films of all time. But let's be honest-- those films would have been huge no matter who they cast in the lead role. Enemy of the State was different story all together. Here was Will's chance to prove he was up to the task of carrying a movie solo. There were no viscous aliens intent on the destruction of life as we know it to help him out this time. This time Will was on his own. So, how'd he do? Not bad, not bad at all. SYNOPSIS In Enemy of the State Will plays an influential lawyer who gets caught on the wrong side of Uncle Sam when the government becomes convinced he has something they want. Well, not all of the government, just this one particularly nasty, very influential guy who desperately needs to get his mitts on a computer disk that has inadvertently fallen into Will's possession. Problem is, Will doesn't even know he has the thing. THESPIANS Will does great with the action stuff, but he's hard to buy as a suave, high-powered attorney. Instead of simply accepting him in his role, I occasionally found myself thinking, "oh, there's Will Smith pretending to be a lawyer." He didn't quite convince me. Lisa Bonét fared better as the ex-girlfriend with serious government connections. But the props on this one really go to Regina King for her tortured performance as a wife whose life is crumbling around her, and Gene Hackman as a paranoid recluse who is as cantankerous as he is helpful. CRITIQUE
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