The Recruit is an Al Pacino film. Pacino takes over the film and never gives it back. Does this make it a good film? It could. Does it distract from the other actors and the script? It could. Pacino definitely helps the movie be more than just a mediocre spy movie. If Pacino was not in the film, it would not have been as good. The recruit is James Clayton (Colin Farrell), a MIT graduate who is top of his class and the best at what he does. Clayton has a past (and what movie character doesn't?) In Clayton's past is the death of his father who supposedly worked for Shell, but could have been a spook for the CIA. The matter of Clayton's father is left up in the air, and it is just a plot-mover. Clayton attracts the attention of a CIA recruiter named Walter Burke (Pacino). After some convincing by Burke, Clayton joins up with the CIA and heads to The Farm for training. The movie is split into two sections