The Recruit
SUMMARY
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 that for the first time opens the CIA's infamous closed doors and gives an insider's view into the Agency: how trainees are recruited, how they are prepared for the spy game, and what they learn to survive. 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 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." (from the official site)Cast: Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan, Gabriel Macht Director: Roger Donaldson Screenplay by: Roger Towne and Kurt Wimmer and Mitch Glazer Producers: Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum, Jeff Apple Executive Producers: Jonathan Glickman, Ric Kidney Quicktime
CAST / CREW
Directed by
Roger Donaldson
Writing credits (WGA)
Roger Towne (written by) and
Kurt Wimmer (written by) ...
Mitch Glazer (written by)
Al Pacino .... Walter Burke Colin Farrell .... James Clayton Bridget Moynahan .... Layla Moore Gabriel Macht .... Zack Kenneth Mitchell .... Alan Mike Realba .... Ronnie Gibson Ron Lea .... Bill Rudolph, Dell Rep Karl Pruner .... Dennis Slayne Jeanie Calleja .... Co-Ed #1 Domenico Fiore .... Instructor #1 (as Dom Fiore) Jessica Greco .... Brunette at Blue Ridge Angelo Tsarouchas .... Cab Driver Veronica Hurnick .... Polygraph Interrogator Eugene Lipinski .... Husky Man Steve Lucescu .... Instructor #2 (more)
You are Visitor No:
poster (thanks Mary P. at the
Colin Farrell::Fansite for sending this)
ARTICLES
 Bridget Moynahan and Colin Farrell (capture from E!) |
Al Pacino, The Recruit, Interviewed by Alana Lee (thanks vlakor for this info)
Al Pacino still a BO draw (rediff.com)
Don't Trust That Kindly, Aging Mentor (NY Times) (may contain spoilers if you haven't seen the Recruit)
Latino review - Interview (Thanks Nass M. for this info)
http://www.latinoreview.com/films_2003/touchstone/therecruit/pacino_interview.html
(it takes awhile to download)
http://www.hollywoodjesus.com/recruit_photo.htm (a bunch of great Recruit pictures)
Ireland Online, "Farrell 'chuffed' at his own new recruit", 28/03/2003 - 13:14:03
Here's the bit about Al:
Farrell, talking about the A-List stars he's worked with in his short, but rocketing, career, reckons playing with the legendary Pacino is like a game of tennis: "He's been an actor for over 40 years, at the top of the tree, and he treats every new film as a fresh challenge. I love it that he hasn't got tired or jaded with making films. He's still in there fighting to get it right and still losing sleep because he's such a professional. I learned a big lesson about acting through working with Al."
AT THE MOVIES, Sympathy for the Devil, By DAVE KEHR
(thanks Tito for this info)
He had a touch of the diabolique," said Al Pacino, explaining why he had undertaken the role of a menacing senior C.I.A. trainer in "The Recruit," a thriller that opens nationally today. "There was a capriciousness in him, an unpredictability that I thought would be fun to get into."
Mr. Pacino, speaking by phone from Los Angeles, laughed at the suggestion that he had been playing a lot of devilish characters lately, including the Man Himself in Taylor Hackford's 1997 film "The Devil's Advocate." "He counts for about half a dozen, I guess," Mr. Pacino said. "Well, you sometimes play the hand you're dealt, and certain things come along at certain times. I thought enough time had gone by. I played `Insomnia' and I did `People I Know' and I did `Simone,' and I thought, `Here's something that's got a little echo of things.' "
An echo, perhaps, of Richard III, a role that Mr. Pacino has made his own, playing it on Broadway as well as in "Looking for Richard," the inventive documentary he directed about Shakespeare's twisted antihero?
"I hope it does," he said, "because that's what's good about playing all those roles. Because those things can help in a characterization, things you've done before. They all find their way in, and it makes it a little richer."
"The Recruit," directed by Roger Donaldson, is about a young computer wizard (Colin Farrell) who is recruited for the C.I.A.'s field operations training program by Mr. Pacino's Walter Burke, a former field agent with a murky past and a cloudier present. "I liked the way it was structurally," Mr. Pacino said. "It's a movie that tries to keep you entertained and keep you guessing.
"You don't have that much freedom when you're filming a project like this. You're restricted by certain things you have to say in the dialogue. I wish
I could get in more films that were a little looser there, where you could improvise a little more. But that wasn't the case in this.
"Sometimes you improvise. I know I've done that in films, where I've had improvisations with actors, which I've recorded, and then you take the
improvisations, transcribe the dialogue, cut it down, and that becomes the scene."
Mr. Pacino said he did that with "Dog Day Afternoon," Sidney Lumet's celebrated 1975 film in which his character robs a bank to pay for a sex
change for his lover (played by Chris Sarandon). "When we did the phone conversation, we did about three improvisations, Chris Sarandon and I."
"But improvisation is tricky," Mr. Pacino added. "Sometimes it trips itself up. The lack of formality takes people out of the picture. I like improvisations when you're working on the thing in rehearsals, to find out where it's going and see if you can find things. But to use the actual improv as the movie — that's very rarely done."
QUOTES ABOUT THE FILM
 Al and Colin Farrell |
COLIN FARRELL
(about Al, with a sexy Irish accent) "He's amazing man... he's amazing. "I swear to God it was like hit with a f*****g truck. It's like I was hit with a truck. Just from a quick look. He's just amazing. And he's great fun and he's intense and he's smart. He's a bit funky in the head and he's a great, great man. I'm lovin' workin' with him. You might say I have a little crush on him." (on E!)
Was he intimidated by his Oscar-winning co-star?
"Yeah, I shit myself the first time I was on set with Pacino and also the first time I acted with Tom Cruise in Minority Report," he says. "I still get nervous all the time, but I just suck it in, go on, and do it....One day I found myself looking across the set and watching Al Pacino rehearse his lines, and I realized that we were on the same team. We were work partners, even though I'm not as good as Al Pacino. But I still got to go to the so-called office every day, get to know him and ask him about his life. I got to shoot the shit with him. So it becomes not necessarily normal, but it's something that you get used to after a period of time."
Farrell did quiz Pacino during the down moments on the set.
"Oh, I asked him what his favorite movie of his was. He just looked at me and gave the greatest answer possible for me. He said, 'Colin, of
course, it's Scarface'." (Thanks Joan B. for this info)"He's been an actor for over 40 years, at the top of the tree, and he treats every new film as a fresh challenge. I love it that he hasn't got tired or jaded with making films. He's still in there fighting to get it right and still losing sleep because he's such a professional. I learned a big lesson about acting through working with Al." (Ireland On-line, Farrell 'chuffed' at his own new recruit", 28/03/2003 - 13:14:03)
BRIDGET MOYNAHAN
(about Al) "Here you are just sitting in a classroom watching one of the most amazing actors just do monologues. It's ... what an honor to be just sitting there." (on E!)
TRIVIA
 |
James Foley, who directed Two Bits and Glengarry Glen Ross, was originally set to direct but dropped out.
(135k) (Colin Farrell) Why Me?
(Pacino) She trusts you. Loves you, maybe? You're going to take that love and you're gonna use it to find out who she's working for.
(59k) Nothing... is what it seems.
(101k) You graduated top of your class at M.I.T. You're agile, athletic... I am recruiting you.
(54k) (Colin Farrell) Would I have to kill anyone?
(Pacino) Would you like to?
(106k) (Pacino) This is what you train for. This is the job.
(Colin Farrell) Really?
(Pacno) She's a mole James.
(Colin Farrell) More mindgames?
(Pacno) No, no, school's out.
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