The Recruit (2003)

Director:

Roger Donaldson

Writers (WGA):

Roger Towne (written by) and
Kurt Wimmer (written by) ...

Release Date:

31 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Tagline:

Trust. Betrayal. Deception. In the C.I.A. nothing is what it seems.

Plot:

A brilliant young CIA trainee is asked by his mentor to help find a mole in the Agency.

Plot Keywords:

CIA | Mole | Mentor | Spy | Bathtub

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Al Pacino	...	Walter Burke
Colin Farrell	...	James Douglas Clayton
Bridget Moynahan	...	Layla Moore
Gabriel Macht	...	Zack
Kenneth Mitchell	...	Alan (as Ken Mitchell)
Mike Realba	...	Ronnie Gibson
Ron Lea	...	Bill Rudolph, Dell Rep
Karl Pruner	...	Dennis Slayne
Jeanie Calleja	...	Co-Ed #1
Jenny Levine	...	Blonde with Cell Phone (as Jennifer Levine)
Angelo Tsarouchas	...	Cab Driver
Veronica Hurnick	...	Polygraph Interrogator (as Veronika Hurnik)
Eugene Lipinski	...	Husky Man
Mark Ellis	...	Test Instructor
Richard Fitzpatrick	...	Rob Stevens

Also Known As:

The Farm (USA) (working title)
La recrue (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Рекрут (Russia) [ru]
Çaylak (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Beavatás (Hungary) [hu]
Der Auftrag (Germany) (TV title) [de]
Der Einsatz (Germany) [de]
El discípulo (Argentina) [es]
Farma (Slovakia) [sk]
Ha-Shatool (Israel: Hebrew title) [iw]
I dokimasia (Greece) [el]
La prueba (The Recruit) (Spain) [es]
La regola del sospetto (Italy) [it]
Le nouvel agent (Canada: French title) [fr]
O Novato (Brazil) [pt]
Recrutul (Romania) [ro]
Regrut (Serbia) [sr]
Rekrut (Poland) [pl]
Spioonitest (Estonia) [et]
Test (Czech Republic) [cs]
The recruit - agenttikokelas (Finland) [fi]
Uppdraget (Sweden) [sv]

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Persian | Russian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Switzerland:14 (canton of Zurich) | Malaysia:U | Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 | Germany:12 (w) | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:15 | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:12A (original rating) | UK:12 (video rating) | USA:PG-13 | Canada:A

Filming Locations:

Arlington, Virginia, USA

Company:

Touchstone Pictures

Trivia:

The computer code seen as part of Ice-9 is actually gibberish taken from code written in C for Windows using Hungarian notation for variables and seemingly part of an earlier routine to search for files. It is not syntactically correct - taken as a whole it's just gibberish.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Burke emerges from the warehouse in the final scene the slide on his weapon is locked to the rear, signifying an empty magazine, unloaded condition. The weapon then appears with the slide forward, signifying a loaded condition. As Burke turns away, we hear him release the slide catch even though the slide was already released and forward.

Quotes:

Psychiatrist #1: Would you consider yourself subjectively firm or objectively flexible?
James Clayton: Metaphysically wrinkle-free?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

We Will Rock You

Deja view

Another in a long line of thrillers that aren't as smart as they think they are, populated with supposedly ultra-smart characters doing really stupid things.

"Everything is a test." "Nothing is what it seems." Doesn't anyone ever listen? And what sort of feeble recruit cracks under interrogation after a few personal questions about sex? If these are the types of people the CIA enlists, we're all doomed.

I'd hoped for more from the Pacino/Farrell interplay which is cute but uninspired, given their talents. The disappointment continues as Farrell and Moynahan generate about as much spark as a match under a cold shower.

Add that to a boring plotline about a dead father and a pointless car chase and it all adds up to a little more than a DTV potboiler with bigger names.