The Recruit

For the episode of the TV series Dad's Army, see The Recruit (Dad's Army). For the first book of the CHERUB series, see The Recruit (novel).

The Recruit
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Roger Donaldson
Produced by	Jeff Apple Gary Barber Roger Birnbaum
Written by	Roger Towne Kurt Wimmer Mitch Glazer
Starring	Al Pacino Colin Farrell Bridget Moynahan Gabriel Macht
Music by	Klaus Badelt
Cinematography	Stuart Dryburgh
Editing by	David Rosenbloom
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures Spyglass Entertainment
Release date(s)	January 31, 2003 (2003-01-31)
Running time	115 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$101,191,884

The Recruit is a 2003 American spy thriller film directed by Roger Donaldson, starring Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, and Bridget Moynahan. It was released on January 31, 2003 in North America by Touchstone Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes reported that 43% of critics gave positive reviews based on 163 reviews with an average score of 5.5/10. Metacritic gave it an average score of 56 out of 100 from the 36 reviews it collected.

Plot

James Clayton (Colin Farrell), a computer programming expert at MIT, is recruited by senior Central Intelligence Agency instructor Walter Burke (Al Pacino) to test for a position with the Agency. After witnessing an extraordinary demonstration of Clayton's computer skills, Burke further tests the intelligence of Clayton with an open puzzle encoded on the sports page of a common newspaper, the solution of which gives to Clayton Burke's telephone number. Clayton agrees to be recruited, in part, to find information concerning his father who he suspects was a CIA operative that disappeared when Clayton was a child. After passing numerous psychometric, psychoanalytical, aptitude, and polygraph tests, Clayton is taken to The Farm, a CIA training facility. There, Burke and other instructors teach the candidates the skill sets of espionage, covert operation protocols, and intelligence gathering techniques. During a surveillance exercise, Clayton and fellow recruit Layla Moore (Bridget Moynahan) are kidnapped by men apparently from a foreign intelligence service.

Clayton is brought to an isolated cell and tortured for several days but refuses to give up the names of his CIA instructors. When the interrogators provide evidence that his defiance is contributing to Layla's suffering, Clayton relents and names Burke. The rear wall of the cell then opens to reveal Burke, Layla, and the other recruits sitting in the lecture theater at The Farm, having witnessed the entire event; the kidnapping being just another training exercise. Clayton is cut from the program, but Burke arrives at his hotel the next morning to advise Clayton his dismissal was a fake and he has been appointed to be an non-official cover (NOC) operative. Burke assigns Clayton to spy on Layla, claiming the CIA has evidence she's a mole for a foreign intelligence service attempting to steal a top secret computer virus from the CIA's database. Clayton is provided a job as a low-level CIA data-entry processor and enters a romantic relationship with Layla. He eventually uncovers proof that she is removing the virus piece-by-piece using a USB flash drive.

Clayton surveils Layla as she brush-passes a note to her contact and follows the man through the Union Station. After a brief scuffle, Clayton kills him and discovers the contact is Zack (Gabriel Macht), a CIA agent who had also been a recruit at The Farm. When confronted with the evidence, Layla explains to Clayton she was officially sanctioned to test the security protocols of CIA headquarters by attempting to remove a fake virus, and Zack was a NOC agent. Clayton, by virtue of his familiarity with computer programs, is skeptical and reports his suspicions to Burke who initially congratulates Clayton on passing "the final test." Burke is caught in a lie, however, when he tries to convince Clayton his gun is loaded with blanks. Clayton fires a shot proving otherwise but flees when Burke knocks the gun from his grip. Burke then chases Clayton through an abandoned warehouse, and boasts that he organized the entire scheme to sell the virus for $3 million. Held at gunpoint, Clayton agrees to hand over the virus, only to show that he has been broadcasting Burke's admission from his laptop back to CIA headquarters. Burke becomes incensed and chases Clayton outside to find a S.W.A.T. team had assembled.

Unbeknownst to Burke, Clayton's broadcast did not work and a fake broadcast was displayed. The CIA were there to arrest Clayton and had no knowledge of Burke's treachery. Believing to be caught, Burke rails at his unjust treatment by the CIA, allowing the agents to conclude that Burke is the traitor. Burke then realizes he incriminated himself and draws his gun; committing suicide-by-cop. Afterward, Layla consoles Clayton before he heads back to CIA headquarters for debriefing. On the drive to Langley, Virginia, Assistant Director of Operations Dennis Slayne (Karl Pruner) makes a comment alluding that Clayton's father was an NOC agent when he died.

Cast

• Al Pacino as Walter Burke
• Colin Farrell as James Douglas Clayton
• Bridget Moynahan as Layla Moore
• Gabriel Macht as Zack
• Kenneth Mitchell as Alan
• Karl Pruner as Dennis Slayne

Reception

Reviews of the film were mixed. Rotten Tomatoes reports a "Rotten" average rating of 5.5 out of 10, summarizing it in the following sentence: "This polished thriller is engaging until it takes one twist too many into the predictable."

Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave a positive review with B+, he stated, "From the get-go, The Recruit is one of those thrillers that delights in pulling the rug out from under you, only to find another rug below that." Carla Meyer of San Francisco Chronicle also gave a positive review to the film, stating, "Pacino and Farrell bring a wary curiosity to their early scenes, with Farrell displaying a palpable hunger for praise and Pacino a corresponding mastery of how to hook somebody by parceling out compliments. They're a swarthier version of Robert Redford and Brad Pitt in Spy Games -- only The Recruit is more about mind games."

Todd McCarthy of Variety stated, "The whole picture may be hokey, but the first part is agreeably so, the second part not. At the very least, one comes away with a new appreciation of the difficulty of inner-office romance at the CIA." Mike Clark of USA Today gave a mixed review to the film, stating, "Nothing is ever what it seems, but still, nothing's very compelling in The Recruit, a less-than-middling melodrama whose subject matter and talent never click as much as its credits portend."

Box office performance

The film was released on January 31, 2003, and earned $16,302,063 in its first weekend. Its final gross is $52,802,140 in the United States and $48,389,744 overseas, for a total of $101,191,884.

External links

• The Recruit at the Internet Movie Database
• The Recruit at Rotten Tomatoes
• The Recruit at Metacritic
• The Recruit at Box Office Mojo