The Recruit

Review by Clint Morris

Did the CIA eradicate Marilyn Monroe? Did they have something to do with Elvis’s bereavement? Do they know more about the assassination of JFK than they let on?

You won’t find answers to any of those questions in director Roger Donaldson’s new film, but you will get an inkling into how the surreptitious institute works.

And how treacherous, stringent and life-altering working for the agency can be.

Computer boffin James Clayton (Colin Farrell) is about to find out the ramifications of a job with the CIA.

Picked up for testing at their secret training base known only as ‘the Farm’, the cocky aspirant finds himself the puppet of advanced mediator, Walter Burke (Al Pacino), whose job it is to weed the potentials out from the unfit.

Clayton discovers the schooling is far from easy sailing – coming very close to losing it mentally, physically and emotionally.

But upon expulsion from the training, Clayton is recontacted by Burke, who informs the young pupil that he’s been chosen to become a mole.

Half comprehensive brainpower piece, half popcorn pleaser, Donaldson’s The Recruit is a slick, nicely polished thriller, made all the more better by the presence of the imposing performers.

Farrell, once again, draws the audience into his world with a credible, very affecting turn as Clayton, while Pacino is at his best as the mysterious, but authoritative Burke.

Bridget Moynahan, as fellow trainee, Layla, proves a worthwhile love interest and competitor for the questioning Clayton, and together Moynahan and Farrell display some obvious chemistry.

Another star in his own right is composer, Klaus Badelt, who provides a brilliant pulsating score throughout the film.

Many will argue that the film shifts gear about three quarters way through the film – and it does. It all of a sudden becomes about pleasing an audience, and not becoming the most credible film it could be.

But in retrospect, it only made the film that all the more enjoyable, proving it had a couple more tricks up its sleeve. In comparison to Donaldson’s previous films, it’s one of his better.

It’s not quite Thirteen Days, but it’s five times better than No Way Out.

At the end of it all you won’t have much more understanding of the CIA, but it’s a minor injustice considering the entertainment this film serves up.

First-rate thrills, first-rate talent, first-rate fun, The Recruit is adrenaline-pumping action from go to whoa.

4 out of 5

The Recruit
Australian release: Thursday February 27
Cast: Colin Farrell, Al Pacino, Bridget Moynahan, Gabriel Macht, Karl Pruner.
Director: Roger Donaldson.
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