Review: "The Last Enemy" (2008)

[Steve Rhodes]

THE LAST ENEMY
A film review by Steve Rhodes
Copyright 2008 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****):  *** 1/2

The British really know how to do political thrillers right.  This is seen 
especially in their television offerings in mini-series such as THE LAST 
ENEMY, made by the BBC and shown on Masterpiece Contemporary here.  A blend 
of the television series MI5 with the shades of the novel 1984, THE LAST 
ENEMY contemplates a post-9/11 world in which the government is using 
advanced technology to keep careful track of citizenry.  Think of it as a 
society in which an electronic issued id becomes the front-line in the 
government's assault on political freedoms and privacy -- a world in which 
everything you are doing or have ever done is in recorded in a massive data 
base.

This totalitarian future is set in what appears exactly like today with the 
exception of the biometric cards that almost everyone carries. 
Storm-trooper like police have card readers to insure they know exactly who 
you are, and sensors automatically read your card as you move around just 
like radio tagged packages do in stores today.

Of course, all of this electronic surveillance might be relatively benign if 
the political establishment could be trusted not to abuse its use.  Fat 
chance.

This new society, which uses their high-tech gadgetry to thwart terrorists 
in their midst, is the main subject of THE LAST ENEMY.  Of course, this 
would not make much of a drama if we didn't also have some big on-going 
scandal that the government was using its new powers to try to cover up.

When we meet Stephen Ezard (Benedict Cumberbatch, THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL), he 
is a nerd who has reluctantly left the remoteness of the Chinese countryside 
to return to his native England, where the aforementioned draconian changes 
are in effect.  A mathematician who likes to be left completely alone while 
he works on hard theoretical problems, he is forced to come back to his 
homeland in order to attend the funeral of Michael (Max Beesley), the 
brother he never liked and barely knows now.

As events swirl around Stephen rapidly, he becomes almost disoriented.  He 
meets and falls in love with his dead brother's wife, Yasim Anwar (Anamaria 
Marinca).  Yasim is a doctor who is treating a woman dying from a mysterious 
illness.  Frightened that the police will come and take them all away, Yasim 
lives a life of non-stop fear.

Barbara Turney (Geraldine James, THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN) and Patrick Nye 
(David Harewood, THE VICE) are a pair of government higher-ups involved in 
some big cover-up conspiracy.  They keep close tabs on Stephen and Yasim. 
Meanwhile Russell (Robert Carlyle, THE FULL MONTY), a rogue agent whose 
allegiance and intentions aren't at all clear, runs around in the proverbial 
shadows shooting and being shot at.  He's a good guy, a bad guy or, most 
likely, both, who is uncontrollable and unpredictable.

The cover-up part of the narrative, while good, works mainly as an essential 
glue to keep the story together.  The fascist state story is the best part. 
The superb acting, the good pacing and the sharp writing make this five 
episode mini-series fly by, leaving you wanting even more.

THE LAST ENEMY runs 285 minutes.  It is not rated but might be PG-13 for 
violence and sexual situations and would be acceptable for kids around 10 
and up.

The miniseries will be available as a boxed DVD set from WGBH Boston Video 
on January 13, 2009.

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