Recruit-ed

The idea of the "high-tech" thriller is an interesting one. In films that fall into this classification, it seems as though the only thing that gets an upgrade is the hardware the characters use, while the routine thriller elements we've all seen in other suspense films that didn't involve computer viruses as plot devices remain the same. There have been exceptions, but The Recruit isn't one of them. It's enjoyable enough, so long as you don't think about it.

James Clayton (Colin Farrell) is a software designer who gets a shot at joining the CIA from veteran recruiter Walter Burke (Al Pacino). Of course, James is rather reluctant to accept the offer at first, despite Burke's claim that he is a "scary judge of talent," until Burke suggets that he can possibly shed some light on the disappearance of James' father, who was himself a CIA agent. More specifically, James' father was a NOC (Non-Operations Covert agent), a special kind of agent who is always in the field and vulnerable, and whose existence is known only to the CIA. "Rule number one," Burke says, "never get caught." If you do, your death never becomes known to anyone on the outside, and you are represented by a little star with the year of your death next to it on a memorial wall in the CIA lobby.

Burke believes that, like his father, James would make an excellent NOC. Or does he? Does Burke have another agenda? And what about that cute agent, Layla Moore (Bridget Moynahan), that James meets at "The Farm" (the name of the CIA training center, which provides the film with it's best scenes)? Is it possible that she is a mole in the agency? Did James' father really work for the CIA? This is one of those movies that puts the viewer into an overwhelming state of paranoia, and has you looking at every character, at every thing they say and do, for some signs of deception. After all, "nothing is what it seems." With such a tantalizing setup, it's too bad that The Recruit falls back on a cliché riddled ending that gives Pacino yet another opportunity to deliver a climactic speech with fire-and-brimstone fury. After all of the countless possibilities that were raised during the course of The Recruit , I felt cheated when the actual revelation came. The last fifteen minutes pretty much deflate anything director Roger Donaldson managed to accomplish with the rest of the film, which is a shame. Still, it's the getting there that counts, and The Recruit , up to a point, delivers in that respect. [6/10]