(2003)
Plot:
James
Clayton is fired up. A bartender by night and computer hacker in the
few hours of daylight for which he manages to leave his water bed,
the kid is flying high, on a roll with a laid-back lifestyle that
suits him just fine. Played by an agile Colin Farrell, Clayton is
also a heartthrob with his five o’clock shadow and chiseled pecks. A
cushy job offer from Dell computers peaks his interest in securing a
professional career, and at the same moment he meets Walter Burke
(Al Pacino), a recruiter from the CIA. Though Clayton’s better
judgement tells him to stay away from the shady Burke, he is curious
to learn whatever he can about his father, who was also a CIA agent,
killed in the line of duty. Clayton is sent to an intensive CIA
training camp called "The Farm," where he quickly learns
the gravity of his decision as he undergoes gruelling tests of
physical, mental, and psychological strength. His romantic interest
in the gorgeous, tough-as-nails Layla (Bridget Moynahan), a fellow
trainee, becomes a weakness as the pressure of the tests steadily
increases. Finally, without warning, Clayton is thrown into action
as he and Burke go head-to-head in a mission that is more dangerous
than either of them realize. With top-notch performances from a sly
Pacino and a pumped-up Farrell, THE RECRUIT’s best moments come from
the intensity resonating between its characters. In addition, the
settings and training activities at "The Farm" give
intriguing insights into CIA recruitment and initiation.
Cast/Crew:
Written
by: Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer and Mitch Glazer
Directed
by: Roger Donaldson
Starring:
Al
Pacino …. Walter Burke
Colin
Farrell …. James Clayton
Bridget
Moynahan …. Layla Moore
Gabriel
Macht …. Zack
Mike
Realba …. Ronnie Gibson
Kenneth
Mitchell …. Alan
Notes:
The
"abandoned warehouse" where the final sequence in the
film takes place is the same set where Chicago
(2002)’s prison scenes were filmed.
There are numerous references toKurt
Vonnegut Jr., including the computer virus being named Ice-9
(from "Cat’s Cradle"), Clayton reading
"Slaughterhouse Five" at the coffee shop, and Clayton
referring to his father’s eggs as the "Breakfast of
Champions".
When shown in theatres, the movie was in an aspect ratio of
2.35:1. When it was released on DVD in May of 2003, it was
presented in a ratio of 1.78:1, preserving Roger Donaldson’s
vision.
Layla uses a Dell 16MB USB Key to sneak the ICE9 virus code out of
CIA Headquarters in Langley.
Reviews:
‘Recruit’
fails to follow through
By
Mike Clark, USA TODAY
Nothing
is ever what it seems, but still, nothing’s very compelling in The
Recruit, a less-than-middling melodrama whose subject matter and
talent never click as much as its credits portend.
In
The Recruit, Al Pacino plays a CIA veteran who takes Colin
Farrell’s brilliant recruit under his wing.
Roger
Donaldson, director of 1987′s crackling No Way Out, is back
working the innards of official Washington, or at least the CIA’s
home base in Langley, Va. Recruiting for the agency is a veteran
hand played by Al Pacino, who starts out as a mentor then
constructs an emotional wall once he has helped hire young turks
of both sexes for a life of unconventional employment.
No
Way Out did a lot for Kevin Costner’s then-burgeoning career,
thanks in part to those memorably steamy love scenes with Sean
Young. With Colin Farrell and Bridget Moynahan, Donaldson has
another pair of enamored good-lookers, but here, the crucial love
angle never really clicks. This is another uninvolving movie in
which wandering minds may spend too much time trying to figure out
how the makeup folks maintained a uniform two-or-so-days’ growth
on the central character’s face.
Farrell,
who is the film’s focus, plays a computer whiz and star MIT
graduate ripe for Pacino’s plucking, thanks to curiosity over
whether his late father was involved with the agency.
Other
than that, his character is pretty sketchy, and Farrell doesn’t
invest him with much warmth. After a long stretch involving CIA
training that’s easily the best part of the film, the plot twists
begin. Several involve professional colleague Moynahan, who may or
may not be someone (this is incessantly a "may or may not
be" movie) the agency had better keep an eye on.
Pacino’s
inherent watchability, which failed him last summer in Simone,
goes only so far in a movie that grows progressively more
conventional. The Recruit’s one ace is its timing, which might be
right for grown-ups who have seen all the year-end blockbusters
and are appalled that the 2003 calendar is polluted with juvenile
D-list nonentities such as Just Married and A Guy Thing.
But
truth to tell, you can have a better time at Martin Lawrence’s
National Security, a title that could just have well have been
slapped on this disappointment without making a smidgen of
difference.
Trailers:
-
Windows Media Player [HIGH]
-
Windows Media player [LOW]
DVD
info:
- Encoding: Region 1 (U.S. and
Canada only. This DVD will probably NOT be viewable in
other countries. Read more about DVD
formats.) - Format: Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby,
DTS Surround Sound - Rated: [PG-13]
- Studio: Buena Vista Home Vid
- DVD Release Date: May 27, 2003
- DVD Features:
- Commentary by director Roger Donaldson and actor Colin
Farrell - Theatrical trailer(s)
- Deleted scenes with optional commentary
- "Spy School: Inside the CIA Training Program"
- Widescreen anamorphic format
- Commentary by director Roger Donaldson and actor Colin
-
Details from Amazon.com
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