The Recruit : Blu-ray Review

The Movie Itself is directed by Roger Donaldson, of “The Bank Job“, and “Cocktail” fame.

I love Al Pacino, but in the past few years, he’s seldom had a film that was decent, let alone entertaining. He’s delivered some of the most awe-inspiring performances in his time, but as of late, he seems to be slipping. As far as I’m concerned, the last great film he performed in was Christopher Nolan’s remake, “Insomnia.” Of course, he was also exceptional in the acclaimed, and emotionally-charged HBO mini-series, “Angels In America” but we’re talking feature films here, not TV. In the years between “Insomnia” and the present, he’s been attached to such misfires as “Gigli“, “Two For The Money“, and “88 Minutes.” To his credit though, all of the directors responsible for these films have made far better movies, and it’s also very difficult to know whether or not a film will be a success from the script alone. I suppose he’s just been out of luck, and unlike his character in “The Recruit“, he’s not quite the “scary judge of talent” as he once used to be.

Thankfully, “The Recruit” is actually one of the more enjoyable films of Al’s in the past six years. It features the then-rising-superstar Colin Farrell, fresh off the publicity train from his first Spielberg gig, “Minority Report“, who had a great deal of momentum heading into this film — though his career has also been dodgy in the years past.

The strengths of Donaldson’s film were lost on me the first go-around, and it wasn’t until this second viewing that I actually came to appreciate much of his work. Even still, the film isn’t as inventive or original as it could be, and much of the twist-turn narrative will seem oddly familiar because it is awfully derivative of the espionage-thrillers that have come before it. What separates the film from its predecessors is its depiction of an otherwise undisclosed process, the training of CIA agents. This alone makes the film worthwhile fiction for anyone that’s ever been interested in how the process might unfold. We can only imagine how much of what we see is true to form — though the special features on the disc corroborate some aspects, and discount others — but most of it is interesting, if not effectively glamorized.

In the end, you will likely find yourself frequently one step ahead of the narrative, but you’ll likely still have a fun time watching all of the double-crossing unfold. I just wish the film’s script had been given more care, with stronger dialogue/characters and a more rewarding finish.

It’s definitely not the best film around, but you could do worse. You could be subjected to “Gigli.”