Product Description

James Clayton, a bartender and a computer hacker, accepts the offer of a recruiter looking for CIA trainees over a comfortable job at Dell computers; soon, he plunges into a gruelling world of physical, mental, psychological tests, and heads into a missio
Genre: Suspense
Rating: R
Release Date: 25-JAN-2005
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11405 in DVD
• Brand: PACINO,AL
• Released on: 2003-05-27
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 115 minutes

Amazon.com
"Nothing is as it seems" in The Recruit, a guessing-game thriller that employs plot twists and conflicting loyalties as its primary raison d'être. Surrounded by potential deception, a newly recruited CIA officer (Colin Farrell) must determine if his manipulative instructor (Al Pacino) is being honest when he identifies Farrell's fellow recruit and love interest (Bridget Moynihan) as an enemy "mole" assigned to steal a dangerous computer virus from CIA headquarters. While claiming to offer an insider's look at CIA training methods, this engrossing yet ultimately predictable plot is pure Hollywood fantasy; any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental, leaving the perpetually unshaven and scruffily coiffed Farrell to fend for himself in Pacino's cynical arena while tracing his familial roots in the spy game. Wearing its cleverness on its sleeve, The Recruit is an adequately elaborate puzzle of perceptions. "Everything is a test," as Farrell soon realizes, and attentive viewers will enjoy piecing it all together. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker
Colin Farrell, the young Irish actor, has dark, hurting eyes, stubble on his upper lip and chin, and a slender, lithe body. He can't miss as a star, and he gives promise of knowing what he's up to as an actor. He's also the only interesting thing in "The Recruit," yet another paranoid thriller. This one is about training for the C.I.A., and it also stars Al Pacino in his domineering-satanic mode, complete with an opera-house Mephistopheles beard and glittering eyes. The Australian-born filmmaker Roger Donaldson has always been a competent director, but he doesn't have the wit to rise above a bad script, which, in this movie, leaves the unfortunate impression that the recruits are training less for intelligence work than for future appearances in action movies. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Great plot twists
Not many movies hold my attention for the full run time, while I did eventually guess the ending it was a well constructed plot.

Doesn't Make Sense
If Al Pacino's character already has Bridget Moynahan stealing the program for him why does he have to have Colin Farrell steal it from her. It doesn't make sense unless they left out a scene where that would suggest that Colin Farrell would have to piece it all back together before it could be used by Al Pacino.

Don't waste your money on this one
I agree with the one star reviews, by and large. See it on TV if you must - it's a forgettable film. A silly thriller.