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Partners
Recruit, The"Trust no-one" and "nothing is what it seems". Just two of the handy clich?©s dispensed with a sly twinkle by grizzled CIA instructor Walter Burke (Pacino) to his latest batch of eager-beaver greenhorns, headed up by hotshot James Clayton (Farrell). Burke knows a thing or two about mind games, and clearly enjoys laying down the gauntlet for both his star recruit and the film's audience, challenging us to keep our bearings amid the ensuing smoke-and-mirrors plotting. When Clayton finds himself assigned to expose a mole in the CIA, he struggles to work out if Burke is just jerking his chain or if a much more dangerous game is just beginning.
Pacino is a dab hand at playing shady mentors to rising male talent (Johnny Depp in Donnie Brasco, Keanu Reeves in The Devil's Advocate), and this time the notion of surrogate fathers is pushed right out into the open. Burke is able to reel Clayton in with hints about his dead father, who he suggests may have died on an Agency assignment. It's the kind of role that suits Pacino well, and he remains compelling amid even the escalating ridiculousness of The Recruit's disappointing third act.
Farrell, meanwhile, continues his attention-grabbing streak (from Tigerland through Daredevil) and confirms his edgy magnetism. The real CIA, of course, must be thrilled with their new poster boy: Clayton's not only a technical genius and a perma-stubbled ladykiller, but has patriotic integrity coursing through his blood; no wonder the Agency boys co-operated with director Donaldson and his team.
Verdict Donaldson mined this kind of territory much more effectively back in 1986 with his superior corruption thriller No Way Out. This time, with the principals playing so closely to type, there are far fewer surprises on offer.
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