Enemy of the State

Synopsis: Corrupt National Security Agency official Thomas Reynolds (Jon Voight) has a congressman assassinated to assure the passage of expansive new surveillance legislation. When a videotape of the murder ends up in the hands of Robert Clayton Dean (Will Smith), a labor lawyer and dedicated family man, he is framed for murder. With the help of ex-intelligence agent Edward "Brill" Lyle (Gene Hackman), Dean attempts to throw Reynolds off his trail and prove his innocence.
Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery
Production: Buena Vista Pictures
  5 wins & 16 nominations.
 
IMDB:
7.3
Metacritic:
67
Rotten Tomatoes:
71%
R
Year:
1998
132 min
Website
1,929 Views


FADE IN:

EXT. SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, SCENIC VIEW LOT - MORNING

Shenandoah mountains. A cold dawn. TWO BLACK TOWN CARS

sit side by side, facing a view of a farming valley below.

Two MEN in dark suits and long coats stand near the

cars, casually on the lookout. If we caught a glimpse

underneath the coat of the taller of the two, we'd see

that he was carrying a 9mm. Glock.

INT. BLACK TOWN CAR - CONTINUOUS

In the backseat of the car sit HAMERSLEY and REYNOLDS,

each well-kept and in his early 50's.

REYNOLDS:

"I know thy works and thy labour

and how thou canst not bear them

that are evil. And thou hast tried

them who say they are apostles and

hast found them to be liars".

Revelations II.

HAMERSLEY:

What the hell does it mean?

REYNOLDS:

It means who's side are you on?

HAMERSLEY:

You didn't ask me to meet you 30

miles from my office for a Bible

study class.

REYNOLDS:

It's a bi-partisan issue. Everyone

needs to swallow hard. No one,

including you, wants to be fingered

as the one obstructing efforts to

crack down on terrorism, and--

HAMERSLEY:

F*** you.

REYNOLDS:

What?

HAMERSLEY:

I said f*** you.

REYNOLDS:

Is that anyway to talk to an old

school chum?

HAMERSLEY:

You're gonna finger me as soft on

terrorism? Terrorism, you

unconscionable a**hole?

REYNOLDS:

There are planes falling out of the

sky, buildings blowing up. American

buildings. Americans getting bombs

in the mail. What are we gonna do!?

HAMERSLEY:

We're not gonna hand you and your

band of lunatics the keys to the

kingdom. I'm not gonna sit in

Congress and write a law that

allows the NSA to point a camera

and a microphone at anything they

damn well feel like. And the next

time you have something to say to

me, we do it above-board, in my

office, like everyone else. Now get

outa my car, I've got a committee

meeting on the hill.

REYNOLDS regards HAMERSLEY a moment, then opens the car

door--

EXT. PARKWAY - MORNING

HAMERSLEY's car snakes down the twisting mountain road.

INT. HAMERSLEY'S CAR - CONTINUOUS

HAMERSLEY MAKES VERBAL NOTES concerning the Reynolds

meeting into his memo-recorder as he drives. He picks

up his cellular phone and punches in a number.

VOICE (O.S.)

Senator Albert's office--

The line goes dead.

HAMERSLEY tries again but can't get a dial tone. Then,

in the rear-view mirror, a BROWN SEDAN gains fast.

Whoever the guy is, he's flying. Then a man with a

rifle leans out the sedan's window. Aims.

HAMERSLEY flies into a blind curve. Tires SCREECH as he

rounds the bend to see

A PROPANE TRUCK. Blocking both lanes of the road.

HAMERSLEY's eyes widen. He stomps the brakes, SKIDS and

SLAMS into the truck. The EXPLOSION engulfs everything.

HAMERSLEY and the car are consumed. The pursuing sedan

slows to a stop. The men watch. The car's an inferno.

The MEN pull a 'U' and drive away.

INT. CRYSTAL CITY, VIRGINIA, TALL OFFICE BLDG. - DAY

A well-appointed big-city law office filled with

citations of merit and pictures of a wife and child.

ROBERT DEAN, a likable young lawyer, sits behind his

desk with his back to an OLDER MAN. He stares at a

commanding view of Washington, D.C. as he listens to a

tired, smoke and whiskey voice.

OLDER MAN (L.T.)

I don't know how much longer we can

hold out, Mr. Dean.

DEAN:

I don't know, either, L.T. Maybe

you guys should get yourself a

labor lawyer.

L.T.

Well that's why I'm here, Mr. Dean.

'Cause you're a labor lawyer.

DEAN:

Good point.

L.T.

Last night, Larry Spinks, he works

the Steel Press, he goes to a bar

with his wife Rosalie to have a

glass of chianti 'cause it's his

birthday, and these two guys, these

Guido mother-f***ers, they jump him

when he goes to the bathroom.

DEAN:

L.T., in this office I'd prefer you

say Italian-Americans.

L.T.

I'm sorry, Mr. Dean. But Larry's in

St. Lukes now, so I'm a little--I'm

not myself. The Union bosses say

unless we take Bellmoth's offer,

it'll only get worse.

DEAN:

That's because your Union bosses

are those Guido mother-f***ers.

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes

David Marconi

David Marconi is an American screenwriter, film producer and film director. His writing credits include the screenplays for Enemy of the State and Live Free or Die Hard. more…

All David Marconi scripts | David Marconi Scripts

0 fans

Submitted by aviv on November 02, 2016

Discuss this script with the community:

0 Comments

    Translation

    Translate and read this script in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this screenplay to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "Enemy of the State" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/enemy_of_the_state_425>.

    We need you!

    Help us build the largest writers community and scripts collection on the web!

    Watch the movie trailer

    Enemy of the State

    Browse Scripts.com

    The Studio:

    ScreenWriting Tool

    Write your screenplay and focus on the story with many helpful features.