enemy of the state is a 1998 american action-thriller film directed by tony scott, produced by jerry bruckheimer and written by david marconi. the film stars will smith and gene hackman, with jon voight, lisa bonet, gabriel byrne, dan butler, loren dean, jake busey, barry pepper, and regina king in supporting roles. the film tells the story of a group of nsa agents conspiring to kill a congressman and the cover up that ensues after a tape of the murder is discovered.