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If you want to go work for the government, better realize this,
nothing is what it seems. Everything is so secretive that names
and backgrounds and even assignments are cover-ups to something
else. With the threat of a real-life war imminent, it’s interesting
that a film like THE RECRUIT would come out now. Good timing if
there ever was one. If you thought about being
James Bond and wondered about the training process, this is the
film for you. Starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell as the teacher
and the student, the film gives you a jolt of suspense as the plot
is not what is seems.
James Clayton (Farrell) is a cryptography wiz just graduating from
MIT when he spots someone following him. When confronted, the man
introduces himself as Walter Burke and he works for the CIA. Seems
that Burke has a belief in Clayton and has extended an invitation
to train for a CIA position at a place called The Farm. Clayton
has never forgot about his father, who worked for the CIA and mysteriously
disappeared a decade ago. “Nothing is what it seems” is the unofficial
motto for the training program. For James, this is the toughest
thing he’s going through as a recent grad. He didn’t want to be
some tech person at another company. But the rough and stressful
exercises have him thinking. Burke serves as a father figure and
pushes him to be the best because he believes in him. Within The Farm,
James falls for co-worker Layla (Moynahan). Their introduction,
at first rocky, starts blossoming as time goes by. When James fails
the toughest exercise given, he is booted from the program and falls
into a depression. What he didn’t realize was that Burke was testing
him and is brought back undercover into the program to flush out
a mole within the trainees. As easy as it was getting along with
his fellow recruits, it’s now hard for James to smoke out the “traitor.”
This psychological thriller is very compelling and very interesting
to say the least. On the one hand, we get to see what one probably has
to go through to make it in the CIA. You have to be athletic and
intelligent, and very secretive. Director Donaldson, who last directed
the political thriller “13 Days”, has done a remarkable job in keeping
the suspense constant throughout the whole film. The cat and mouse
game is drawn for every character as no one’s role is clearly defined
with the exception of Clayton. Farrell, who will be in a few films
out in the next few months, is very good in capturing the cocky
attitude of a young man who’s yearning to be the best in his craft
and be guided by a father figure. Pacino brings with him the same
type of performance he brought to “Donnie Brasco”. He’s a father
figure and a leader, but in this film, his role is not clearly
defined. Given the nature of the CIA and its secretive missions,
this is a good thing. The one drawback with Pacino is that he has
to have his “rant scene”, which brings the tone of the film to another
level. Moynahan, last seen in “The Sum of All Fears”, is very cool
and resigned as the love interest who may have a hidden agenda.
Although everything is not what is seems, The Recruit is able to
hold your attention and make you think to what is real or not.
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