The Recruit (2003)

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The Recruit (2003)
Starring: Al Pacino, Colin Farrell
Director: Roger Donaldson
Synopsis: Paranoid thriller about a hotshot MIT programmer who's recruited to join the CIA. While in training, however, his personal and professional worlds collide when he's given a mission to track a double-agent — who just happens to be a female agent he fancies. (Buena Vista/Touchstone)
Runtime: 105 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 - for violence, sexuality and language
Genres: Action, Suspense



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Recruit, The (Widescreen)(DTS)	DVD
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Reel Review DVD Review Critics Roundup

Recruit, The (2003)(Widescreen)(DTS)

The Recruit has the trappings of a top-notch thriller—charismatic stars, a talented director, and an exciting subject. Alas, as master spy Walter Burke (Al Pacino) says over and over again, "Nothing is what it seems." The film starts off well enough, with Burke recruiting hot-shot MIT grad James Clayton (Colin Farrell) to join the freshman class at "The Farm," the CIA's not-so-secret training academy in rural Virginia. Intrigued by the offer and haunted by the mysterious death of his father, whom he believes was in the CIA's employ, Clayton packs his bags.

Once at the Farm, Clayton is put through a black-ops regimen of weapons training, demolitions, surveillance, and just about everything else you'd expect a spy to do. But since the lad's specialty is computers, Burke recruits him for an ultra-secret mission: surveilling his classmate Layla (Bridget Moynahan). She's suspected of attempting to steal a potentially apocalyptic virus from the CIA's technical division.

With Roger Donaldson, the man behind Thirteen Days and No Way Out, in the director's chair, you'd expect The Recruit to percolate with suspense. Granted, its script, co-written by Roger Towne (The Natural), Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium), Mitch Glazer (Three of Hearts), is loaded with switcheroos and double-crosses. But the payoff at the end of this maze is Hollywood at its worst, with a turgid mano-a-mano showdown and a not-so-surprising betrayal. For all its proclamations of mystery, ultimately, The Recruit is as predictable as they come.

One of the things The Recruit does do well is portray CIA training as intense, complex, and fraught with deception. Although somewhat glamorized, the instruction shown looks pretty close to the footage of the real thing. How can I tell? Because "Spy School: Inside the CIA Training Program," a 16-minute-long documentary on The Recruit DVD, shows actual footage of CIA trainees jumping out of planes, blowing up cars, and shooting off a lot of guns—just like they did on the big screen. Complimenting this rare glimpse inside the agency is an interview with Chase Brandon, a 25-year CIA veteran who consulted on the film. Though often vague, his comments do offer a glimpse into what drives a real-life secret agent.

Those wanting a glimpse of what drives Colin Farrell need look no farther than the disc's commentary track. Throughout the length of the film, Farrell and director Donaldson engage in a lively banter, telling stories about locations, production, and the various unseen personalities behind it (including a set designer who died of cancer shortly after the film was completed). Farrell's reputation for profanity is well deserved, but his cursing isn't off-putting—it's hilarious. He's constantly teasing Donaldson, poking fun at himself, and having a grand old time. Cracking open a beer during the commentary is the next best thing to having a pint with the actor in a pub.

Donaldson and Farrell's commentary can also be played over the four deleted scenes featured on The Recruit DVD. Three are the sort of extraneous sequences that rightly end up on the cutting room floor. However, a third, involving a fake diplomatic reception, is an interesting re-creation the sort of role-playing exercises CIA trainees participate in over and over again. While the scene itself could have been shortened, it would've increased the film's authenticity, had it been kept in.

The disc's video is somewhat perplexing. The box touts that the "director's original 1.77:1 aspect ratio shows more of the film than was presented in theaters." The most logical conclusion that can be drawn from this statement is that the film was shot in 1.77:1, and then had the top and bottom cropped to make the more traditional 2.35:1 letterbox. Whatever the reason, The Recruit's image is solid, with good shot compositions, dark blacks, and a wide color range; the blues on the various computer displays look especially crisp.

Sound-wise, The Recruit DVD is top-notch, offering both THX-certified Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS EX audio. The difference between the two is slight, with the latter having more robust bass; both, however, deliver the dynamic audio experience you'd want from a DVD, using every speaker to its fullest without deafening the listener. Francophones and Spanish speakers will have to make do with Dolby 2.0 and a subtitle track, respectively.

Icing the DVD's cake is a smear of trailers for other flicks, including The Hot Chick, Shanghai Knights, and Bringing Down the House (strangely, there's no trailer for The Recruit itself), and a THX Optimizer for fine-tuning your home-theater system. While not a huge bonus, these minor features are the difference between a mediocre and high-quality DVD; if only The Recruit had been as satisfying.

— TOR THORSEN