The Recruit

The first third of The Recruit is great. The plot slows down in the second third and in the final third, it reaches a spasmodic and ineffective climax. It’s a thriller in which nothing is as it seems. And a thriller that doesn’t work the way it was intended. The fine cast can’t salvage it. (01/22/2003)

A brisk thriller with the typical ailment of Hollywood blockbusters: a bad ending. The first half, when we follow the recruits as they train on the CIA "farm", is excellent, funny and interesting. I didn't have any major reservations, even when the plot started to get more and more convoluted, but that ending... I don't like that cliché I've seen countless times where the main villain spills the beans with a long monologue before he blows someone away (or during some other dramatic moment). Here I was treated to something similar and spiced up with plot twists that show the screenwriter's cluelessness. At least we had the two leads. Al Pacino, man, has anyone seen this guy give a bad performance? And Farrell? When he was starting to become famous, I thought, "Oh my, another starlet, another bubble about to burst." But he shut me up with Phone Booth and taped it over with this film. His acting style is very natural, without excesses. So, sorry, Colin, you are really good. I look forward to seeing you again in the fall, when we conquer the Far East. (03/14/2004)

Decent work all around. Like a proper model viewer, I got caught in the sloppiness and didn’t read the readable ending, which adds one more star to the three stars for good craftsmanship and excellent acting. (07/08/2005)