Categories & segments

Enemy of the State The Rewatchables
Enemy of the State poster
Enemy of the State

Picking Nits

The panel challenges the murder premise, character decisions, impossible movement and imaging, repeated fires, pet-driven plotting, and the rapid marital reconciliation.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 01:10:44Read transcript
  • Reynolds’ decision to attend and order the public murder of a sitting congressman merely to advance surveillance legislation and his career is judged absurd.
  • The coincidence of a wildlife camera capturing the murder, followed by Jason Lee reviewing the footage, is criticized as flimsy.
  • Clayton behaves too aggressively in the first mafia meeting and appears implausibly bad at labor lawyering.
  • Barry Pepper nearly matching a bicycle on foot and Clayton outrunning a Camaro are criticized as impossible human speed.
  • Clayton intentionally setting himself on fire in a closet and escaping without major burns is challenged.
  • The lingerie-store security footage being rotated and enhanced in three dimensions is called the most implausible technology in the film.
  • The cat and dog are judged to consume too much plot attention.
  • Carla’s quick reconciliation with Clayton, despite his earlier affair and continued lies, is judged unconvincing.
Enemy of the State The Rewatchables
Enemy of the State poster
Enemy of the State

The Neil McCauley “A Book about Metals” Award for Best Line from the Movie

“You made a phone call” is selected; the “proper term for me is eggplant” exchange is the main alternative.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:17:59Read transcript
  • Brill’s explanation that he destroyed the building because Clayton made a phone call is selected as the best line.
  • Clayton correcting the mafia’s ethnic insult to “eggplant,” with a later callback, is praised as the other memorable line.
Enemy of the State The Rewatchables
Enemy of the State poster
Enemy of the State

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

The panel supports a ten-episode series that expands the Hammersley/Reynolds conflict, Jason Lee, the mafia thread, Brill’s lair, and the NSA manhunt.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:18:23Read transcript
  • A ten-episode adaptation is endorsed as a way to deepen the large ensemble and institutional conflict.
  • The man-on-the-run premise is compared to The Fugitive and the frantic storytelling to 24.
Enemy of the State The Rewatchables
Enemy of the State poster
Enemy of the State

Who Won the Movie?

Gene Hackman wins unanimously for giving the film credibility and importance as soon as he appears.

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:21:36Read transcript
  • Hackman is selected over a late challenge from Lisa Bonet.
  • A second vote emphasizes that the film becomes substantially better once Hackman appears.
  • A third vote agrees on Hackman and leads into discussion of his late-career films and retirement.
Podcast choices
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Gene Hackman
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Gene Hackman
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Gene Hackman
Higher Learning The Rewatchables
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Higher Learning

Casting What-Ifs

Tupac Shakur as Malik dominates the casting counterfactuals, followed by Leonardo DiCaprio as Remy and several later alternatives.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:07:34Read transcript
  • Tupac Shakur was cast as Malik before a jail sentence forced a last-minute replacement.
  • His screen presence is argued to have added anger, intensity, and different chemistry throughout Malik's story.
  • Leonardo DiCaprio is discussed as a rumored Remy candidate, with conflicting explanations for why it did not happen.
  • Vivica A. Fox was considered for the Deja role and is preferred to the final casting.
  • Gwyneth Paltrow and Juliette Lewis are reported as early possibilities for the Kristen and Taryn roles.
  • Sidney Poitier was the first choice for Professor Phipps, followed by Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson before the studio chose Laurence Fishburne.
  • Michael Rapaport playing Scott Moss is rejected because the performance would not support the character's authority.
Higher Learning The Rewatchables
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Higher Learning

Roger Ebert's review

Rating not yet verified

The panel guesses at Ebert's star rating and quotes praise for Singleton's clear eye and challenging use of familiar characters; no numeric rating is treated as verified.

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:37:01Read transcript
  • Participants guess three stars, briefly consider two, and never state a verified numeric rating.
  • The quoted review praises Singleton for seeing clearly, resisting fashionable ideology, and asking hard questions through familiar characters.
Higher Learning The Rewatchables
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Higher Learning

Most Rewatchable Scene

Fudge and his group crashing the fraternity party to confront Billy wins after a broad scene field.

In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:47:00Read transcript
  • The first party crash and the later retaliatory party confrontation are nominated separately.
  • The retaliatory scene is praised for Ice Cube's presence and for concentrating the film's rape and racism conflicts at the fraternity house.
  • Scott Moss recruiting an isolated Remy is praised for showing how a charismatic extremist preys on a person looking for belonging.
  • Malik confronting Remy in the dorm room is nominated for its gunpoint tension despite a television-movie quality.
  • The outdoor lunch brawl and Fudge's explanation of historical captivity form another candidate.
  • The shooting, Malik's pursuit of Remy, their fight, and campus security's response are described as a gripping twelve-minute stretch despite their grimness.
  • The family-reunion sequence in Poetic Justice is invoked as a stronger example of Singleton sustaining persuasive energy across a long sequence.
  • The final selection is the retaliatory fraternity-party confrontation led by Fudge.
Higher Learning The Rewatchables
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Higher Learning

What’s Aged the Best?

The national-anthem scene, Remy's radicalization, Malik's Columbus speech, Fudge's look, and Fishburne's immigrant-professor perspective lead the discussion.

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 00:55:07Read transcript
  • The national-anthem exchange is judged startlingly prescient in light of Colin Kaepernick's later protest.
  • Remy's progression from isolation into white nationalism is called the film's strongest structural achievement.
  • Malik's Columbus speech is singled out as one of Omar Epps's better acting moments despite some theatricality.
  • Fudge's Afro is praised as a deliberate identity marker that was unusual in 1995.
  • Malik's statement that racism has become more mental than physical is treated as a point the film articulated unusually early.
  • Professor Phipps is read as an immigrant voice emphasizing opportunity and effort rather than the inherited racism confronting Black Americans.
  • Michael Rapaport's physical choices are praised as convincing isolation by some participants and criticized as inert by another.
Higher Learning The Rewatchables
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Higher Learning

What’s Aged the Worst?

The opening credits, dated sexual and technological moments, weak soundtrack, cartoonish extremists, and uneven acting receive the strongest criticism.

In the discussion (10)
Approx. transcript time · 01:04:42Read transcript
  • The opening credits are condemned as an inappropriate blaxploitation-style choice.
  • The Deja and Malik sex scene is criticized for an unnecessary nipple-sucking detail, while the era's more explicit screen intimacy is discussed.
  • Robin Givens's performance and career in Boomerang prompt a digression arguing that she deserved greater stardom.
  • The impact of Taryn and Kristen kissing is said to have diminished since 1995 because same-sex intimacy became more common on screen.
  • The film's email-pricing joke is identified as technologically dated.
  • The soundtrack is criticized as weak for 1995, especially beside Above the Rim and other era-defining soundtracks.
  • The surviving Taryn-Kristen relationship material is considered sufficient to establish trust and safety even though the studio reportedly cut more.
  • The white supremacist characters are criticized as cartoons.
  • The actor initially disputed as the player from The Program is subsequently confirmed as the same performer.
  • The opening credits are ultimately selected as the clearest Aged Worst answer.
Higher Learning The Rewatchables
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Higher Learning

The Ruffalo / Hanna / Rubinek / Partridge Overacting Award

Michael Rapaport wins a divided vote for Remy's final breakdown, over an alternate choice of Malik grieving Deja.

In the discussion (4)
Approx. transcript time · 01:15:48Read transcript
  • Michael Rapaport's climactic repeated declarations are proposed as the only clear overacting winner.
  • One participant defends the scene as a believable collapse into repeated rhetoric.
  • The group outvotes that objection and confirms Rapaport.
  • Malik's immediate reaction to Deja's death is offered as an alternate overacting candidate.
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