The Recruit

Rating:
Summary: Deceptions Abound
Review: The Recruit is one gripping movie. Just when James Clayton(Collin Farrell) thinks he has all the answers, Walter Burke(Al Pacino) shifts the game and changes the questions.

The storyline is filled with intrigue ranging from the tense CIA training sessions to the love interest between Clayon and Bridget Moynahan to the fake dissmissal of Clayton and much more. Al Pacino really lights up the screen in his role as the master manipulator. Its quite interesting how things end up for Pacino in the end. Some may think its predictable but I think otherwise.

A winner on many fronts although in comapring Pacino movie's I prefer Scent of a Woman just a bit more.

Rating:
Summary: Colin Farrell & Al Pacino: What's Not To Like?
Review: As an action/supspense/thriller, this film has it all. Star power, twists & turns, a love interest for Colin, and wonderful dialog delivered expertly by Al.

Somehow, it just didn't quite intrigue me. I wasn't very invested in any character except for Colin's, and the story is nearly incomprehensible, as well as the ending.

It's fun and entertaining, in an action movie way, but little else. Good for a watch, but I wouldn't rush out to buy it.

Rating:
Summary: Sometimes things are better than they seem
Review: This is a movie that I initially passed over, always finding something else to buy or borrow (as I don't steal), until I happened to catch the ending on television late one night.

By the next evening it was in my possession, and despite having already watched the ending, I found it to be a surprisingly enjoyable experience.

Al Pacino aced his role as Walter Burke, CIA trainer extraordinaire, and he's not a guy I would ever want to play poker with, even if I did play poker.

Colin Farrell's performance is pretty much like his other movies(except maybe "Alexander", but I haven't seen that yet, and I hate his blonde look), but he really does a great short, dark and handsome, tortured and persecuted thing. This time he's out of the phone booth and using his cell phone, whizzing through movie-style computer gibberish as James Clayton, the star recruit of the latest batch of CIA trainees.

Bridget Moynahan gives much the same performance as she does in "I, Robot", playing it smart and sassy with a real cute pout, and a concerned wrinkle.

Surprises and twists abound, and though you know it's all faked, and nothing is what it seems, it still draws you in. In retrospect, the ending really is the silliest part of the movie, the moral of the story being to sit down and relax whenever you see red dots before your eyes.

Amanda Richards, January 9, 2005


Rating:
Summary: Tense thriller
Review: I'm not sure what prompted me to add this to my Netflix queue, but it finally found its way into my mailbox -- and I was very happy with the film. I'm not a big Farrell fan, but he did a fantastic job as the son of a deceased oil man who just might have been a special agent. Farrell is recruited by Pacino, and undergoes intense training...only to break under pressure. Or so it seems. Pacino is Pacino, so of course his performance is outstanding.

Some aspects of the story are a bit predictable, but the twist at the end was nice. If you're a fan of films that have you grasping the arm of your chair, this movie is for you. Good pace, language not too bad, and high on suspense.

Rating:
Summary: Nice try
Review: This movie took a while to pick up; only after he's kicked out of the CIA club does it pick up. But Colin Farrell's character is amazingly naive and gullible. If it was real life you'd wonder how he survived as far as he did. Some people like this movie for its "suspense" but I disliked it because the protagonist was such an imbecile.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good
Review: Pretty good movie; some good action, technology stuff, and entertainment. It does what it's intended to do.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining but silly
Review: This movie comes from a world in which the CIA only employees good looking, athletic, top of their class engineers who are very happy to sit in high tech classrooms learning how to use weapons just to get low pay. So of course the plot leaves everything to be desired, as does, for the most part, the acting. The sinister twist in the plot is of course silly, and the MIT engineer nods knowingly at the technobabble.

If you want to watch a good spy thriller, watch Smiley's People instead. The acting is superb and it is much more entertaining. If you want to go for some action, watch The Professional instead.

Rating:
Summary: Very good movie
Review: This action-thriller is a great movie, in which "nothing is what is seems"; for the characters, as well as for the viewer. Al Pacino and Collin Farrell show us great acting, together with a great story it makes this to one of the best action-thrillers I've ever seen! Special note for the outcome of the movie, the outcome is something I find very important. Most of the time good movies get wasted by a horrible end. Not this movie, no patriotic, moralistic, "help I'm gonna throw up" end. It's something you won't see coming....

Rating:
Summary: Nothing is as it seems
Review: When you watch this movie you will remember two things. "Everything is a test", and Nothing is as it seems." You will find yourself sitting on the edge of your seat waiting to see what will happen next. Is this a test, or is this the real thing you will ask yourself over and over again. James Clayton is still dealing with his Father's disappearance. James is recruited by Walter Burke to join the CIA, but James will find that nothing is at it seems, and he will realize he can't trust anyone but himself. The movie is intense, and a great thriller. I liked the peek into the CIA and the recruiting process. Al Pachino and Colin Farral were good together in this film.