The Recruit (2003)

A brilliant young CIA trainee is asked by his mentor to help find a mole in the Agency.

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writers:

Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer

Stars:

Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Al Pacino	...	Walter Burke
Colin Farrell	...	James Douglas Clayton
Bridget Moynahan	...	Layla Moore
Gabriel Macht	...	Zack
Kenneth Mitchell	...	Alan (as Ken Mitchell)
Mike Realba	...	Ronnie Gibson
Ron Lea	...	Bill Rudolph, Dell Rep
Karl Pruner	...	Dennis Slayne
Jeanie Calleja	...	Co-Ed #1
Jenny Cooper	...	Blonde with Cell Phone (as Jennifer Levine)
Angelo Tsarouchas	...	Cab Driver
Veronica Hurnick	...	Polygraph Interrogator (as Veronika Hurnik)
Eugene Lipinski	...	Husky Man
Mark Ellis	...	Test Instructor
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Rob Stevens

Storyline

In an era when the country's first line of defense, intelligence, is more important than ever, this story opens the CIA's infamous closed doors and gives an insider's view into the Agency: how trainees are recruited, how they are prepared for the spy game, and what they learn to survive. James Clayton might not have the attitude of a typical recruit, but he is one of the smartest graduating seniors in the country - and he's just the person that Walter Burke wants in the Agency. James regards the CIA's mission as an intriguing alternative to an ordinary life, but before he becomes an Ops Officer, James has to survive the Agency's secret training ground, where green recruits are molded into seasoned veterans. As Burke teaches him the ropes and the rules of the game, James quickly rises through the ranks and falls for Layla, one of his fellow recruits. But just when James starts to question his role and his cat-and-mouse relationship with his mentor, Burke taps him for a special ...

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Plot Keywords:

watching tv | cia | recruit | mole | training | 

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Taglines:

Trust. Betrayal. Deception. In the C.I.A. nothing is what it seems.

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Mystery | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English Persian Russian

Release Date:

31 January 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Farm

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Virginia, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$46,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$16,302,063, 2 February 2003, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$52,802,140, 6 June 2013

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$101,191,884, 6 June 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

Touchstone Pictures, Spyglass Entertainment, Epsilon Motion Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Colin Farrell's character tells the girl at the bar how he "just got out of jail" was Farrell's idea. He said he used it on a girl in a bar one time and that it worked, so the producers respected his improvisation and put that line in the film.

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Goofs

During the title sequence of the movie a website is shown where Clayton posts information about his missing father. If you look at the address bar of Opera's browser, it says "file:///vault1/projects/recruit/design/images/sourceimages/fakesite/htmled_site/page_02.html" - clearly a local reference to the "fake" website.

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Quotes

Physiatrist: How do upsetting problems generally make you feel?
James Clayton: Upset.

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Crazy Credits

Girl in the window - Lorrie Barth

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Connections

References Miami Vice (1984)

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Soundtracks

We Will Rock You
Written by Brian May

User Reviews

Not the most original thriller, but it does exactly what you can expect from it.

For some reason or another, this movie wasn't really accepted by the majority of the audience and I wonder why that is. I'm not saying it is a masterpiece, but this is still a movie with Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. Both actors and especially Al Pacino are normally good for some decent fun and some good acting and it wasn't any different in this movie.

This movie tells us the story of James Clayton (Colin Farrell), a young computer graduate who is recruited by Walter Burke (Al Pacino) to work for the CIA. Despite Clayton's unconventional attitude, Burke sees in him one of the best agents the CIA can wish for. That's why he'll guide Clayton through the difficult training courses and helps him to quickly rise through the ranks. Once the training period is over Clayton gets a special assignment, he'll have to detect a mole that has infiltrated in the CIA. But will his training be enough and was Burke right about the fact that this may well be the best agent ever?

This movie is perhaps not the most original thriller ever, but it delivers everything that it is asked for. It's a good movie, full of suspense and decent acting. And for those who are interested: it also gives an insight on how the trainees are recruited, how they are prepared to be a spy and what they learn to survive. I don't know anything about it, but I guess it all looked pretty accurate. Anyway, I enjoyed watching this movie and I give it a 7.5/10.