The Recruit is a perfectly adequate thriller, lifted from 'just okay' to 'average' by Mr. Pacino's presence. The material is far from challenging however and Roger Donaldson, who we know can deliver a good film (his purple patch surely must be Species (1995); Dante's Peak (1997) and Thirteen Days (2000) - all good stuff), does not have much to work with here. Farrell's status as a computer genius is completely unconvincing, but then anyone who has even a basic understanding of how systems work must find films involving password hacking and creeping download bars annoyingly inaccurate and trite. The outcome is unsurprising, but on the up-side everyone's mortgage is paid for another year.
Review of The Recruit
