The star-making machinery
Feb. 2nd, 2003 11:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gwynMini-Review of The Recruit
As a pastime, I read lots of books about military history, defense strategy and crime-agency methodology, and espionage. Not fiction too much, but either micro-histories about specific events or more academic works and analyses. I’m weird, I realize this. But as a result of developing that interest, I get excited about films that actually take a serious approach to showing the inner workings of defense and espionage, especially when they star a really, really good looking actor with a lot of talent.
The Recruit doesn’t deliver on all levels, but the early stages of the film, in the actual recruitment and training parts, were well-staged and exciting. If the film had kept its focus on aspect part of the story, it would have been more successful, but it seems like director Roger Donaldson and the scriptwriters felt they had to add in the formulaic "good guy gone bad for money" story as a way to shore up what they possibly thought wasn’t interesting enough by itself. I’d beg to differ with them on that point; I thought it was fascinating and really brought a sense of just how risky and dangerous this choice of life is, and how far less glamorous it is than many think.
And of course, the way they developed it, it was interesting enough -- it’s something we don’t usually get to see in the movies, even if some segments were a bit hyperbolic. What drove Colin Farrell’s character to join the CIA felt like a strong enough storyline that they didn’t need the standard action fare trappings that eventually take over. Seeing him try to put the pieces together towards the end, when he thinks he’s actually got information that could be vitally important to national security, made for a great action thriller; it might have had a stronger impact if it could have stayed a part of his training rather than the standard “catch the bad guy” story.
Especially because there was a nice dynamic between Farrell and Al Pacino, whose line readings seem to get more peculiar every movie. Farrell was strong enough that he didn’t get plowed down by Pacino the way most younger actors do when he’s in full-bore chew the scenery mode, and Pacino seemed to be picking up on Farrell’s insouciant vibe, which gave a nice bounce to his step and glitter to his eye. And Farrell’s very serious eyebrows and soulful eyes got a good workout as he tried to understand what was happening around him, and not only was not finding answers, but getting only more questions instead.
It’s interesting to see how much attention Farrell is getting for this movie, as if this time the effort to make him a huge star is going to pay off -- I’m not sure if it will, but it seems they have a better chance with this than in his previous movies. Since his breakthrough in Tigerland, they’ve been touting him as the next big thing, but what bothered me about The Recruit and Hart’s War is that it seems like they’re trying to push him into the Action Star mold, when he’s got more abilities to be tapped than these types of movies will ever allow. It reminds me a lot of Vin Diesel after Pitch Black -- you knew this guy had serious charisma and talent and was going to go far. But all the forward movement has been in action films and his bad boy image in real life; his incredible short movie Multi-Facial (actor, writer, director) and bitter, sacrificial Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan have been shunted into the background in favor of the big, loud action franchises and living large. Farrell might end up in the same boat, which would be a shame, as anyone who’s seen him in Tigerland would know -- he has so much more underneath him than just an ability to deliver sharp quips and run around and shoot a lot.
The early part of The Recruit definitely picked up on this, but the end seemed to be relying on the action ability, the sex appeal (which he has in spades), the image package rather than some of the stuff he brought to the beginning. His cockiness and isolation seemed palpable, but later, it becomes more about the standard showy finale rather than about who this kid is and what he’s becoming without really wanting to. I liked most of this movie, I just wish that the eventual cliched story they ended with could have lived up to both Farrell’s emerging talent and the first part of this interesting spy game thriller. It’s a great way to spend two hours, but I left feeling like this may be all we get of Farrell in the future, and that’s terribly disappointing.
As a pastime, I read lots of books about military history, defense strategy and crime-agency methodology, and espionage. Not fiction too much, but either micro-histories about specific events or more academic works and analyses. I’m weird, I realize this. But as a result of developing that interest, I get excited about films that actually take a serious approach to showing the inner workings of defense and espionage, especially when they star a really, really good looking actor with a lot of talent.
The Recruit doesn’t deliver on all levels, but the early stages of the film, in the actual recruitment and training parts, were well-staged and exciting. If the film had kept its focus on aspect part of the story, it would have been more successful, but it seems like director Roger Donaldson and the scriptwriters felt they had to add in the formulaic "good guy gone bad for money" story as a way to shore up what they possibly thought wasn’t interesting enough by itself. I’d beg to differ with them on that point; I thought it was fascinating and really brought a sense of just how risky and dangerous this choice of life is, and how far less glamorous it is than many think.
And of course, the way they developed it, it was interesting enough -- it’s something we don’t usually get to see in the movies, even if some segments were a bit hyperbolic. What drove Colin Farrell’s character to join the CIA felt like a strong enough storyline that they didn’t need the standard action fare trappings that eventually take over. Seeing him try to put the pieces together towards the end, when he thinks he’s actually got information that could be vitally important to national security, made for a great action thriller; it might have had a stronger impact if it could have stayed a part of his training rather than the standard “catch the bad guy” story.
Especially because there was a nice dynamic between Farrell and Al Pacino, whose line readings seem to get more peculiar every movie. Farrell was strong enough that he didn’t get plowed down by Pacino the way most younger actors do when he’s in full-bore chew the scenery mode, and Pacino seemed to be picking up on Farrell’s insouciant vibe, which gave a nice bounce to his step and glitter to his eye. And Farrell’s very serious eyebrows and soulful eyes got a good workout as he tried to understand what was happening around him, and not only was not finding answers, but getting only more questions instead.
It’s interesting to see how much attention Farrell is getting for this movie, as if this time the effort to make him a huge star is going to pay off -- I’m not sure if it will, but it seems they have a better chance with this than in his previous movies. Since his breakthrough in Tigerland, they’ve been touting him as the next big thing, but what bothered me about The Recruit and Hart’s War is that it seems like they’re trying to push him into the Action Star mold, when he’s got more abilities to be tapped than these types of movies will ever allow. It reminds me a lot of Vin Diesel after Pitch Black -- you knew this guy had serious charisma and talent and was going to go far. But all the forward movement has been in action films and his bad boy image in real life; his incredible short movie Multi-Facial (actor, writer, director) and bitter, sacrificial Caparzo in Saving Private Ryan have been shunted into the background in favor of the big, loud action franchises and living large. Farrell might end up in the same boat, which would be a shame, as anyone who’s seen him in Tigerland would know -- he has so much more underneath him than just an ability to deliver sharp quips and run around and shoot a lot.
The early part of The Recruit definitely picked up on this, but the end seemed to be relying on the action ability, the sex appeal (which he has in spades), the image package rather than some of the stuff he brought to the beginning. His cockiness and isolation seemed palpable, but later, it becomes more about the standard showy finale rather than about who this kid is and what he’s becoming without really wanting to. I liked most of this movie, I just wish that the eventual cliched story they ended with could have lived up to both Farrell’s emerging talent and the first part of this interesting spy game thriller. It’s a great way to spend two hours, but I left feeling like this may be all we get of Farrell in the future, and that’s terribly disappointing.
