The Recruit (2003)
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A young cryptography student is recruited into the CIA and discovers a web of deception involving a dangerous computer virus.
The story
While studying nonlinear cryptography at MIT, James Clayton helps create 'Spartacus', a surveillance program that impresses a Dell representative and leads to a recruitment by Walter Burke for the CIA. Seeking answers about his father's mysterious death, James undergoes rigorous training at 'the Farm' in rural Virginia. During a public training exercise, James and a fellow trainee, Layla Moore, are abducted and interrogated. The experience is revealed to be a test, and James is dismissed. However, Burke reveals the discharge was a cover, and James is tasked with investigating Layla as a potential sleeper agent.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
James Clayton, an MIT student, is recruited by CIA agent Walter Burke to join the agency. While training at 'the Farm' in Virginia, James is tested in a simulated abduction where he is tortured into revealing Burke's name. Though dismissed as a failure, James is actually assigned as a non-official cover (NOC) to investigate Layla Moore, a suspected sleeper agent seeking to steal 'ICE-9', a virus capable of disabling global electronics. James enters a romantic relationship with Layla while working at CIA headquarters. After discovering evidence of ICE-9 on her computer, James follows her to Union Station, where he kills a man revealed to be his rival, Zack. James confronts Layla, who claims she was tasked by the agency to test security, while Zack was the real NOC. James then confronts Burke, who reveals himself as the true traitor. Burke plans to sell ICE-9 for $3 million and frame James. James tricks Burke into believing he has transmitted a confession, while Burke is ultimately caught and killed by a CIA strike team led by instructor Dennis Slayne. James is debriefed and learns his father was indeed an agent.
- First release year
- 2003
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Roger Donaldson
- Writers
- Roger Towne · writer; Kurt Wimmer · writer; Mitch Glazer · writer
- Cast and characters
- Al Pacino · Walter Burke; Colin Farrell · James Clayton; Bridget Moynahan · Layla; Gabriel Macht · Zack; Karl Pruner · Dennis Slayne; Eugene Lipinski · Husky man
- Genres
- spy thriller; techno-thriller
- Themes
- espionage; betrayal; identity; technological warfare
- Tone and mood
- tense; suspenseful; melodramatic
- Premise and plot tags
- spy thriller; techno-thriller; CIA; training
- Content notes
- torture
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics but was a commercial success, grossing over $100 million worldwide.
- Production trivia
- The film's working title was 'The Farm'.; James Foley was considered to direct but was replaced by Roger Donaldson.; A proposed video game adaptation was retooled into 'Ice Nine' before release.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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