MOVIE REVIEW: Newest spy thriller may need more recruiting–Grade C-
Well there is no beating around the bush with this one. “The Recruit” was a boring, predictable movie that was a waste of Al Pacino and Colin Farrell’s respective talents.
That may sound pretty harsh, but seldom do I see a movie that doesn’t even try to be inventive. This one features the same old plot of bad guy who you think is good befriends other guy who thinks he’s good but ends up doing bad things for bad guy he thinks is good. Good guy falls in love with girl he thinks is good but finds out he thinks she is bad ’cause guy he thinks is good but is really bad tells him the good girl is bad. Sounds confusing I know, but don’t lose any sleep over it.
Pacino plays Walter Burke, the CIA recruiter who brings James Clayton (Farrell) into the elite group with hints toward the fate of his missing father. Clayton falls for Layla Moore (Bridget Moynahan) and is pushed out of the CIA training by Burke who secretly makes him an undercover agent set to track down evidence of Moore’s bringing a computer virus out of the CIA. Clayton finds himself pushed into a world where he doesn’t know who to trust — a world where everything is a test.
So why is this movie so dull? The whole plot revolves around figuring out who is a “bad guy” and who is a “good guy,” but even before Clayton is kicked out of the CIA training complex you already know who is what. The script was unimaginative and lacks any real comic lines or really dramatic moments. Instead of rooting for the characters you find yourself checking your watch to see how much longer you will be forced to watch Farrell’s moody glares and Pacino’s eyebrow furrowing, glazed over stares.
By far this movie had more potential than the bomb that was Pacino’s last film “S1m0ne.” But he gave a better performance in that film than he did in this one. In “S1m0ne” you cared about his character and wanted to know what was going to happen to him. In “The Recruit,” I was faced with being coolly indifferent to any of the characters in their mindless shuffling across the sets.
Farrell is good at playing the black sheep with lots of potential, but this role was not stretching him as an actor. It was driving him into a rut — the same old roles — just like Vin Diesel is doing with his career.
Take my word for it, you aren’t missing anything by missing this film. But if you enjoy subjecting yourself to mindless drivel, then you’ll like this movie. It’s about as mindless as you can get.
Jared Sterzer is a senior majoring in business information systems. Comments can be sent to jwsterz@cc.usu.edu.