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BY LARRY CARROLL |
There are only
a handful of actors working today whose casting brings an air of intelligence
and confidence to any part they play. As soon as they appear on screen,
before they even open their mouths, you know that their character isn't
someone to be trifled with. Morgan Freeman comes to mind, as does Gene
Hackman and Anthony Hopkins. Philip Baker Hall and James Cromwell could
be considered, perhaps, to a lesser degree since they aren't as well known.
Then there are people like DeNiro and Nicholson, who certainly have the
talent to play such characters, but may have taken on a few too many roles
as average joes and/or comic relief. For an actor to immediately send a
message out to the audience about the intellect and demeanor of his character
is indeed a rare quality. It is only through a careful combination of talent,
intensity, role choices and career longevity that someone can reach that
point. And Al Pacino is among the best.
The true measure of this isn't so much the greatest roles that these
actors take on, but the worst. Pacino reminds us of that fact once again
in The Recruit with his portrayal of C.I.A. operative Walter Burke.
The script paints Burke with the thinnest of details, little more than
exactly what you'd expect from a cloak-and-dagger caricature. But Pacino's
rat-a-tat delivery of lines, his swagger and world-weary face, elevate
it to a higher plane. The rest of the film manages to escape the humdrum
trappings of its script only sporadically, mostly during some early training
scenes, before it ends up on cruise control. The end result is a Spy
Game type movie with a The Game sense of gimmickry that falls
short of either of those superior films.
James Clayton (Colin Farrell, Minority Report) is a bright young
computer-whiz considering an ever-expanding pile of job offers when the
fast-talking, no-nonsense Burke approaches him. In a reel of film that
seeks to do for CIA recruitment what Top Gun did for the Navy,
Burke convinces James to transcend the 9-to-5 and instead serve his country
with an organization where, "Our failures are known. Our successes
are not." James takes Burke up on his offer, with the ulterior motive
of finding out what happened to his late father, who was believed to
be a CIA spook himself.
The Recruit was, for much of its development life, called The
Farm, and perhaps it should have kept that moniker as a reminder
to the filmmakers of where they should be concentrating their efforts.
That title refers to the Agency's secret training ground, where young
recruits are molded into resilient super-spies. Director Roger Donaldson
(Thirteen Days) was blessed with unprecedented access to the
Agency's facilities, methods and complex recruitment process as part
of the new PR-friendly campaign that the CIA has undertaken recently.
The result is a fascinating glimpse into the tests (written, verbal,
lie detector) that the recruits go through, as well as several training
exercises designed to sharpen the senses and raise the paranoia of
the troops (and, in the process, the audience). Certainly some embellishment
has taken place, but Donaldson's visits to Langley paid off in enough
detailed sets and genuine atmosphere to earn a few "Get Out of
Jail Free" cards for his poetic license.
Thrown in amidst all of this cool, how-to-be-a-spy instruction is the
set-up for the second half of the film. Burke, who talks as though he
designs movie posters for a living, keeps telling James that "Rule
number one is, don't get caught", that "Everything is a test," and
that "Nothing is what it seems", all of which should give you
a pretty clear indication of which highway this movie plans on taking
you down. We also get the standard Tough Career Gal/Rebellious Man's
Man romance with your basic She Hates Him So Much That She's Intrigued
introduction and the old Am I Sleeping With the Enemy twist tacked on
for good measure. Which isn't to say that James and fellow recruit Layla
(Bridget Moynahan, The Sum of All Fears) don't get some decent
sparks going - their first kiss, seductively snuck between the glances
of security cameras, is particularly effective - but the fact that she
is so blatantly set up to be a double agent will tip off any audience
paying attention.
The film is (extremely) loosely based on a true story, the details of
which I won't get into because it would give away plot details. I can,
however, tell you that the real story would place the emphasis on someone
other than the Colin Farrell character, which might have made The
Recruit much more interesting. We all know what the motivations are
of the young kid trying to make it big - but what makes the other characters
tick? Sadly, the story's real focus is never explored.
The Recruit will keep some people guessing, although anyone who
has seen David Mamet's Heist should see one major plot point coming
a mile away. The film wants to be so full of twists and turns that it
leaves you dizzy when it's finished. But at the end of the day, said
revelations feel unearned.
The best part about the film is Pacino, which should come as no major
surprise. Watching the legend effortlessly take charge of the production,
you feel like you're watching Barry Bonds hitting another home run -
it comes as natural to the guy as taking a breath. Pacino's fiery attitude
and delivery are perfectly suited for this type of character, and the
only shameful thing about his performance is the way that the filmmakers
conclude it.
Farrell, this year's Heath Ledger (who was last year's Matthew McConaughey),
certainly has a knack for getting himself into big movies with big stars,
but his promise as The Next Big Thing still remains largely unfulfilled.
After this, Minority Report and Hart's War, it seems to
be more and more evident that Farrell may be destined to head down the
supporting actor route that has recently served Jude Law so well. Acting
opposite heavyweights Bruce Willis, Tom Cruise and now Pacino has shown
that he may have some talent, but that doesn't give him the larger-than-life
qualities that made those men who they are.
Moynahan will probably benefit the most from this film, and she deserves
to. Her character is strong, sexy and tender all at once. Sometimes it
seems like there are so many plot twists that the actress can't even
keep track of whether she's supposed to be good or bad in a given scene,
but this can be a good thing - she never leans too far towards either
extreme.
Donaldson's direction goes noticeably downhill in the final reel of
the film, and he unfortunately fails to build even a hint of the tension
he achieved so brilliantly with Thirteen Days. The Recruit may
be remembered solely for its best special effect, which Donaldson relies
on heavily -Farrell's ever-present two day beard. The movie takes place
over a year or so, but Farrell's growth is never more or less than the
same. When does this guy shave? Do the scenes from the movie ever happen
to fall on those shaving days, or should we just assume that every other
day in this story was too uneventful to portray? Maybe Farrell really
did shave, and they just used CGI to keep the beard consistent.
By the end of the film, these are the thoughts that will be occupying
your mind, because The Recruit will have stopped playing fair
by then. It's a shame, because it could have been a much better movie.
But, unfortunately, Al Pacino can only play one character at a time.
GRADE: B- |
