Taglines: Trust. Betrayal. Deception. In the C.I.A. nothing is what it seems.
The Recruit movie storyline. James Clayton (Colin Farrell), a computer programming expert at MIT, is offered an interview by senior Central Intelligence Agency instructor Walter Burke (Al Pacino) for a position with the Agency. After witnessing a demonstration of Clayton’s skills, Burke tests Clayton with a puzzle encoded on the sports page of a newspaper. Clayton agrees to be recruited because he wants information about his missing father, whom he suspects was a CIA agent.
After passing numerous psychometric, psychoanalytic, aptitudinal, and polygraphic tests, Clayton is taken to The Farm, a CIA training facility. There, Burke and other instructors teach the candidates the skill sets of espionage, covert operation protocols, and intelligence gathering techniques. During a surveillance exercise, Clayton and fellow recruit Layla Moore (Bridget Moynahan) are kidnapped by men apparently from a foreign intelligence service. Clayton is tortured in a cell for several days but refuses to give up the names of his instructors. When the interrogators threaten to hurt Layla, Clayton gives in. The rear wall of the cell opens to reveal Burke, Layla, and the other recruits sitting in a lecture theater, having witnessed the whole event, which was a set-up.
The Recruit is an American-German spy thriller film, directed by Roger Donaldson and starring Al Pacino, Colin Farrell and Bridget Moynahan. It was produced by Epsilon Motion Pictures and released in North America by Touchstone Pictures on January 31, 2003. The film received mixed reviews from critics.
The film was produced by Gary Barber’s and Roger Birnbaum’s production company Spyglass Entertainment, with financial support from Disney’s Touchstone Pictures and German film financing company Epsilon Motion Pictures (which was owned by the Kirch Group at the time). It was mainly filmed in Toronto and Niagara-on-the-Lake in Canada, with some landmark scenes, such as that from the Iwo Jima Memorial by the Arlington National Cemetery, shot in and around Washington, D.C.
The film was released on January 31, 2003, and earned $16,302,063 in its first weekend. Its final gross is $52,802,140 in the United States and $48,389,744 internationally, for a total of $101,191,884.
About the Production
In an era when the country’s first line of defense, intelligence, is more important than ever, comes an explosive thriller starring Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. For the first time, the CIA’s infamous closed doors are opened, giving an insider’s view into the Agency: how trainees are recruited, how they are prepared for the spy game, and how they learn to survive in a world of secrets.
James Clayton (Colin Farrell) might not have the attitude of a typical recruit, but he is one of the smartest graduating seniors in the country – and he’s just the person that Walter Burke (AL PACINO) wants in the Agency. James regards the CIA’s mission as an intriguing alternative to an ordinary life, but before he becomes an Ops Officer, James has to survive the Agency’s secret training ground, where green recruits are molded into seasoned veterans.
As Burke teaches him the ropes and the rules of the game, James quickly rises through the ranks and in the process falls for Layla (BRIDGET MOYNAHAN), one of his fellow recruits. But just when James starts to question his role and his cat-and-mouse relationship with his mentor, Burke taps him for a special assignment to root out a mole. As the suspense builds toward a gripping climax, it soon becomes clear that the CIA’s old maxims are true: “trust no one” and “nothing is what it seems.”
Touchstone Pictures’ and Spyglass Entertainment’s “The Recruit” stars Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan and Gabriel Macht. Roger Donaldson directs from a script written by Roger Towne and Kurt Wimmer and Mitch Glazer. Roger Birnbaum, Jeff Apple, and Gary Barber produce. Jonathan Glickman and Ric Kidney serve as executive producers. Buena Vista Pictures distributes.
The Recruit (2003)
Directed by: Roger Donaldson
Starring: Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan, Gabriel Macht, Jeanie Calleja, Ron Lea, Jessica Greco, Elisa Moolecherry, Angelo Tsarouchas, Veronica Hurnick
Screenplay by: Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer
Production Design by: Andrew McAlpine
Cinematography by: Stuart Dryburgh
Film Editing by: David Rosenbloom
Costume Design by: Beatrix Aruna Pasztor
Set Decoration by: Peter P. Nicolakakos
Art Direction by: Dennis Davenport
Music by: Klaus Badelt
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for violence, sexuality and language.
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
Release Date: January 31, 2003
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