The Film
"Nothing is what it seems…everything is role play…."
In
The Recruit, Colin Farrell plays James Clayton, a bartender and college student who is recruited into the CIA training program by Walter Burke (Al Pacino), an agent renowned for his uncanny knack for finding perfect candidates for the agency. Clayton, who is at first hesitant to join, finally relents -- in part due to his desire to learn what happened to his father, whom Burke claims to have known. Burke brings Clayton to the CIA training facility, affectionately known as "The Farm," where Clayton meets trainee Layla Moore (Bridget Moynahan) and the two form an uneasy romance -- or do they?
Burke eventually recommends Clayton for discharge, supposedly as a rouse, so that he can enlist Clayton to go undercover and follow Moore, who Burke tells Clayton is a suspected mole trying to steal a dangerous computer virus from CIA headquarters. But is Burke telling the truth; is Moore really a mole? Is it all part of the training, or is it something far more sinister?
The Recruit falls squarely into the spy thriller genre and I'm certain that those who like such films will find something to enjoy in this one. Colin Farrell plays a believably naïve yet brilliant CIA recruit and Al Pacino is excellent -- as is to be expected -- in the role of a grouchy and manipulative senior agent. The problems with the film are that director Roger Donaldson falls into the trap of using every cliché there is in telling this story. The plot becomes quite obvious, for a film of this ilk. From the relationship between the Colin Farrell and Bridget Moynahan characters that turns into one of distrust and each spying on the other, to clandestine meetings in shadowy cars and the chases that follow, one can't help but think it's all been done before.
Perhaps the most disappointing aspect of
The Recruit is the film's rather convoluted denouement; it feels far too rushed, too unbelievable, and leaves too many questions unanswered. Still, if you've grown weary of special-effects laden 007 films and perhaps need a break from the Jack Ryan series, this may provide an interesting two hours of entertainment.
The Picture
The Recruit appears on this Blu-ray Disc in a high definition 1080p/24 VC-1 transfer and for the first time in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.35:1, instead of the reformatted 1.77:1 aspect ratio in which it appears on DVD. As is to be expected for any Disney studio release on Blu-ray Disc by now,
The Recruit looks (and sounds) absolutely amazing.
The color palette for the film is purposely de-saturated with a slight bluish cast and moody, shadowy lighting. The black levels on this transfer perfectly capture this look, with inky blacks and superb shadow detail without any crush problems. Contrast is set perfectly and flesh tones, though not quite natural, show no hint of red push and come across well.
Detail is sharp, with a fine amount of film grain being preserved and both foreground and background detail being retained. Skin textures are well defined; one could practically count the individual hairs in Colin Farrell's stubble in this transfer. Once again, Disney have provided another reference quality transfer, free of artifacts, and likely better than anything you have seen since the film's initial release five years ago.
The Sound
The Recruit on Blu-ray Disc offers English uncompressed PCM 5.1 (48kHz/24-bit), English and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0 audio options. I listened to the uncompressed PCM 5.1 soundtrack for the purposes of this review and it was well worth it.
Utilizing all six channels to their full potential, the aggressive 5.1 mix is full of discrete sounds in the rear channels and makes ample use of the LFE for deep low frequencies and realistic sounding gunfire. The car chase scene near the film's close, that finds Clayton chasing Moore, fills the surround channels with screeching tires and the roar of car engines.
The soundtrack is an engulfing 360-degree soundscape that puts the viewer in the middle of the action and has a good amount of ambient effects holding the sounds together in a cohesive manner. The original score by Klaus Badelt, special effects, and character dialogue come through with great clarity and dynamic range. Equalization may be slightly tweaked in the higher frequencies, but not enough to cause listener fatigue. This is a reference quality soundtrack on all counts.
The Extras
All of the extras from the DVD have been ported over to this Blu-ray release, which offers little in the way of unique bonus content other than the
Movie Showcase, which is nothing more than three scenes selected to highlight the best cinematic moments from the film in terms of audio and picture quality.
The extras included on this disc are:
- Original DVD Audio Commentary with director Roger Donaldson and actor Colin Farrell
- Movie Showcase (2.35:1/High Definition) - three scenes selected from the film to showcase the best cinematic moments, in terms of audio and picture quality.
- Deleted Scenes (4:3/"windowboxed"/standard definition) four deleted scenes with optional commentary by director Roger Donaldson and actor Colin Farrell
- Spy School: Inside the CIA Training Program - featurette about the supposedly real CIA recruit training program, which the CIA neither confirms nor denies actually exists.
Final Thoughts
The Recruit is by no means a great spy thriller, but if you like films in this genre, it offers some entertainment value and is not the worst way to spend two hours, particularly with the stunning reference quality picture and sound offered on this Blu-ray Disc release.
Where to Buy:
Product Details
- Actors: Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan, Gabriel Macht, Kenneth Mitchell
- Format: Color, Widescreen
- Audio/Languages: English uncompressed PCM 5.1, English and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0
- Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Portuguese
- Region: ABC (All Regions)
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Number of discs: 1
- Rating: PG-13
- Studio: Touchstone / Disney
- Blu-ray Disc Release Date: June 3, 2008
- Run Time: 115 minutes
- List Price: $34.99
- Extras:
- Deleted Scenes with optional commentary by Roger Donaldson and Colin Farrell
- James Serves Drunk
- Grab Your *@#$
- Cocktail Party -- Elliot is Cut
- James Brings Beer to Zack
- "Spy School: Inside the CIA Training Program"
- Feature commentary by director roger Donaldson and actor Colin Farrell
