A
tad too formulaic...
'Trust no
one' and 'Nothing is as it seems'... are the tag
lines for this CIA thriller. The problem with
those tag lines is that they alert us to the
fact that there is a big twist and lots of turns
in this supposedly unpredictable plot. BUT --
Experienced moviegoers will be so attuned to the
possible permutations of the story that each and
every twist & turn could evoke a roll of the
eyes and a drumming of the fingers. The film
isn't bad... but it is slightly uninspired.
CIA films are becoming a little passé. We have
seen so many of them over the years, including a
veritable glut of them in the 1990's. What's odd
is that since the cold war ended, there hasn't
been anything mysterious or secretive about this
once very private branch of the government.
Sure... Hollywood likes to make it seem
glamorous and exciting, but I think the effect
is wearing thin on audiences -- It is on me.
This particular film is set in the secret
training ground for cover-operative (spy)
recruits who have to endure intensive tests
under the instruction of Walter Burke, played
with energy and a sly smirk by Al Pacino. His
protégé is the quirky but brilliant James
Clayton (Farrell) who likes the excitement of
this bizarre new life. James falls for one of
his fellow recruits called Layla (Moynahan), who
has a mysterious quality to go with her
spectacular looks. When Burke tells James that
there is a mole inside the agency, he is none to
happy to find out who it is.
Pacino seems to be on autopilot here. It almost
looks like he is on the verge of laughing
throughout. For a man of his legendary talent,
this is clearly a 'paycheck film'. Colin Farrell
seems to be the new 'it' guy in Hollywood. Hell,
at the time I wrote this review, he was dating
Britney Spears. Unfortunately for him, I don't
think either is going to last very long -- the
'it' status or the relationship.
He isn't lacking in on-screen charisma, but all
of his characters are clones of each other. Put
them all together and you still won't have
enough layers to constitute a fully developed
character. If you've ever had the displeasure of
seeing Farrell in an interview, you won't be
surprised that he is incapable of much. The guy
is as dumb as dirt and can't seem to utter a
multi-syllabic sentence without tossing in a few
expletives along the way. All that being said,
he is somewhat suitable for this type of role...
one that is completely overshadowed by a decent
plot and some cool action sequences. He blends
into the background very well. Farrell is not so
bad that he rivals the hideous clown known as
Ben Affleck, he is far too invisible to be that
awful. This Irish lad is definitely a 'movie
star', but he can't yet claim to be a thespian.
The new star here is Bridget Moynahan... who has
a Julia Roberts quality that can't be ignored.
This is one of her biggest roles to date and it
could lead to bigger and better things. She
definitely has a solid presence on the big
screen and she oozes an intelligence and charm
that should translate into stardom.
'The Recruit' is an average film that won't
inspire much adulation or criticism... it's very
blah. Were there some cool sequences? Maybe a
few. But overall the film is pretty standard
fare. I am going to give it a marginal
recommendation because it moves along briskly
and won't induce bored glances at your watch.
It's not a film you'll feel compelled to add to
the DVD collection, but the $5 rental and the
two hours of your life could be spent on worse
movies this year.
©
Written by TC Candler
Richard
Propes' Comment
Trust no
one...especially those involved with this trying
to be brilliant but settling for near mediocrity
film. Colin Farrell and Al Pacino do a decent
job here, but they are sabotaged by a
predictable script and unrealistic dialogue.
Jacob
Hall's Comment
The problem with "The Recruit" is not with the
acting, because Colin Farrell is pretty good as
a CIA trainee, and Al Pacino overacts admirably
as his instructor. Neither is it with the
direction, which helps create some nice action
scenes and suspenseful moments.
It's with the writing and the advertising. The
slogan for the film is "nothing is what it
seems" and "trust no one." With taglines like
these, we know there'll be some huge plot
twists, therefore, we can predict them before
the film even begins (I predicted most of them).
"The Recruit" starts off quite well, with some
of the best military training sequences since
"Full Metal Jacket." Then it collapses into an
above average CIA thriller where "nothing is
what it seems" and our hero must "trust no one."
Yeah...right.
