X
- 2003
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
- 2003
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
Summary An explosive thriller starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell that for the first time opens the CIA's infamous closed doors and gives an insider's view into the Agency: how trainees are recruited, how they are prepared for the spy game, and what they learn to survive. (Touchstone Pictures)
Directed By: Roger Donaldson
Written By: Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer, Mitch Glazer
- 2003
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
- 2003
- PG-13
- Buena Vista Pictures
- 1 h 55 m
The Recruit
56
5.9
Summary An explosive thriller starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell that for the first time opens the CIA's infamous closed doors and gives an insider's view into the Agency: how trainees are recruited, how they are prepared for the spy game, and what they learn to survive. (Touchstone Pictures)
Directed By: Roger Donaldson
Written By: Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer, Mitch Glazer
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
56
47% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
53% Mixed
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 36 Critic Reviews
56
47% Positive
17 Reviews
17 Reviews
53% Mixed
19 Reviews
19 Reviews
0% Negative
0 Reviews
0 Reviews
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.
Visibly uninspired, Pacino gives a perfunctory performance -- though surely he must have looked over at Farrell and been reminded of himself 30 years ago, all jacked-up and beautiful, like a stallion at the gate.
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 66 User Ratings
5.9
38% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
52% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
11% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average
Based on 66 User Ratings
5.9
38% Positive
25 Ratings
25 Ratings
52% Mixed
34 Ratings
34 Ratings
11% Negative
7 Ratings
7 Ratings
[SPOILER ALERT: This review contains spoilers.]
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So much is so good about The Recruit that you'll wish the ending were better. It's like opening the last lid in a Chinese box and having a clown figure pop out on a spring.
There are glimpses of a real actor struggling to get out of Pacino, although they are rare. It’s as if Pacino is dying to act, but he’s either too old or director Roger Donaldson just isn’t allowing him to do it.
By Kevin Carr
FULL REVIEW
Just the latest forgettable thriller that might have been enjoyable if only its conclusion lived up to its windup.
Donaldson and his battery of screenwriters aim for nothing more than a coolly efficient thrill machine, but the mechanics break down in the end, foiled by a "whodunit" twist that's telegraphed early in the first reel. Careening forward without any real purpose, the film simply flies off the rails.
Al Pacino is his own venue as yet another flamboyant, self-ironic, self-dramatizing, self-parodying, self-selfing quasi-Mephistopheles. His performance isn't very good, but it's big.
so many twists that make you confused instead of surprised, one of the twist was stupid and doesn't make sense, on the other hand, the film attract you until the end and Colin Farrell did a great job in this movie.
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Un peu long, une fin au rebondissement tarabiscoté et un Colin Farrell qui semble pour le moins perdu face à un Al Pacino éclatant et grandiose (comme de coutume). Si on devait donner une définition du charisme en deux mots, ce serait "Al Pacino" et ce serait tout-à-fait normAl.
Néanmoins, le film ne repose pas entièrement sur ses épaules de superstar : Roger Donaldson livre un film consciencieux à la réalisation de bon élève appliqué quoique sans génie... et pour un film d'espions, l'intrigue se laisse suivre sans aucune migraine, preuve d'une ossature assez solide pour réussir à nous induire en erreur ici et là.
La fin est vraiment maladroite, pas en elle-même, mais la façon dont elle est amenée et résolue, ce qui nous laisse à penser ce que l'on pensait depuis le début : la recrue est un petit con. Heureusement qu'Al est là... un génie !
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a big cry for help..
The Recruit
Donaldson's spy thriller is a big question to the genre it claims to be. This is a no go from the first frame itself. No matter how alluring and intriguing the concept may sound like, it is completely shallow and empty to the core. It is a tale extracted from a chapter of a textbook, which too was unfortunately mediocre. It has the same old storyline that we have been listening to over the years, even the surprises are so bizarrely installed, that you can see the station far before it arrives. On terms of script, it is a big cry for help. It needed the polishing aplenty and better supervision on both editing and execution. This meaningless chase of cat and mouse, is clearly outdated.
The foggy roads, the shady deals, finite set of characters and involuntary sacrifices, every aspect of the plot shucks away its integrity. It doesn't take itself seriously. What it has got right, is the cast. Pacino is the perfect riddler for the role, his promising commitment itself is convincing enough to be the apt host to take a tour of this world. Farrell, on his parallel role, gets overpowered by Pacino at times and since his role demands such a position, he holds onto that piece of thread till the last frame. The other supporting cast like Moynahan and Macht fails to reap the flag as anticipated.
The dialogues or more accurately, monologues allotted to actors are performed lethally especially by Pacino on latter stages. But this is a drop in the ocean. Even an actor with a caliber like such cannot save this sinking ship that the screenplay is. Donaldson's vision is frankly blurred and undercooked to create the anticipated impact. The Recruit literally recruits you through its concept but this job calls for a labour work and not your promised white collar job.
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Awards
Teen Choice Awards
• 1 Nomination
MTV Movie Awards, Mexico
• 1 Nomination