The Recruit (2003) - Farrell and other factors buoy Donaldson's uninspired CIA thriller

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Al Pacino and Colin Farrell look mysterious in black in a cold hallway on this dark poster for Roger Donaldson's The Recruit

James Clayton is a young man who gets recruited by the CIA; he is trained at their facility 'the Farm' and his recruiter enlists him to look for a mole there.

The Recruit is written by Roger Towne (The Natural (1984)), Kurt Wimmer (The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)) and Mitch Glazer (A Very Murray Christmas (2015, TV special)) and directed by Australian master filmmaker Roger Donaldson (Sleeping Dogs (1977)), whose 14th feature it is.
SPOILER Al Pacino (Bobby Deerfield (1977)) stars as the fairly predictable wolf in sheep's clothing, giving a routine performance that frankly feels a bit burnt out.
The Recruit gambles on a monotonous ploy of 'dynamic' photography, (nearly no shot is horizontally balanced), and dialog that seems like taglines; everything is a test, and so on and so forth.
What works in the film still are its interrogation scenes, a car chase and Colin Farrell (Fright Night (2011)), who is very watchable as the young recruit. The film is fast forgotten.

Related posts:

Roger Donaldson: 2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller 
Cocktail (1988) - Cruise an iconic stand-out in Donaldson's masterful drama

Pacino and Farrell dine at a crab restaurant in this clip from the film

Cost: 46 mil. $
Box office: 101.1 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.19 times its cost)
[The Recruit premiered 25 January (Febio Film Festival, the Czech Republic) and runs 115 minutes. Shooting took place in Virginia, Washington DC, and in Ontario, including Toronto, from December 2001 - March 2002. The film opened #1 to a 16.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another week in the top 5 (#4) and grossed 52.8 mil. $ (52.2 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 7 mil. $ (6.9 %) and Spain with 4.3 mil. $ (4.3 %). Due to its big stars and spy pedigree, the film likely turned profitable with home video sales and TV sales later on. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. CIA employees reviewed the film in 2009, finding it 'entertaining' but 'ridiculous'. Donaldson returned with The World's Fastest Indian (2005). Pacino returned in Gigli (2003); Farrell in Daredevil (2003). The Recruit is rotten at 43 % with a 5.55/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Recruit?

Loving (2016) - Edgerton and Negga own the screen in Nichols' powerful period drama

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+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Historical Movie of the Year + Best Virginia Movie of the Year

A warm and love-filled embrace between its two stars functions as the focus of this pleasant poster for Jeff Nichols' Loving

When Richard Loving marries his soulmate Mildred in 1958 on a trip to Washington DC, where their interracial bond is allowed, it provokes a judicial interference upon their return home, which forces them apart for years. But the couple won't stand for it, and by their example, they change things for themselves and for couples to come.

Loving is written and directed by great Arkansan filmmaker Jeff Nichols (Mud (2012)) based on the true story of the Lovings of Virginia, and Nichols has arguably made his best film to date with it. It is a thoroughly tender, humanistic and moreover enormously authentic retelling of an important break and hugely affecting chapter of US history on the wrongs of race-based marriage laws.
Both Ruth Negga (Noble (2014)) and Joel Edgerton (Warrior (2011)) give formidable performances as the Lovings, and they get strong support from Michael Shannon (Jonah Hex (2010)) as a photographer and Jon Bass (Jane Wants a Boyfriend (2015)) and Nick Kroll (Vacation (2015)) as the attorneys, who support and encourage their appeal case.
The purity and simplicity of the story stands out and is backed by a handsome score from David Wingo (Joe (2013)). Loving is a splendid work.

Related posts:


Jeff Nichols: 2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

2016 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2012 in films - according to Film Exces [UPDATED I]
Mud (2012) - Career-defining, electric Americana
2011 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]    
Take Shelter (2011) or, Madness in Ohio

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 12.9 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.43 times the cost)
[Loving premiered 16 May (Cannes Film Festival, France, in competition) and runs 123 minutes. Co-producer Colin Firth stumbled upon the Loving story in 2009, and the film was later inspired by the documentary The Loving Story (2011). Shooting took place from September - November 2015 in Virginia and Washington DC. The film opened #27 to a 159k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #11 and in 572 theaters (different weeks), grossing 7.7 mil. $ (59.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 2.1 mil. $ (16.3 %) and the UK with 1.1 mil. $ (8.5 %). The film was nominated for 1 Oscar: Best Actress (Negga), lost to Emma Stone for La La Land. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, won 2 Independent Spirit awards and many other honors. Nichols returned with Long Way Back Home (2018, short) and hasn't made a feature since yet. Edgerton returned in It Comes at Night (2017), Negga in Warcraft: The Beginning (2016). Loving is certified fresh at 90 % with a 7.7/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Loving?

The Box (2009) - Kelly's preliminary career showstopper comes in the shape of a mysterious box

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Cameron Diaz stars in the mysterious The Box by Richard Kelly

QUICK REVIEW:

A mysterious stranger visits a financially strained couple in 70s Virginia. His box gives them a choice, which turns out to be fateful: Push a button, which will kill a stranger, - but give you a million dollars.
No great film is made with this short story adaptation (of Button, Button by Richard Matheson, which has been used previously for a Twilight Zone episode from the 80s iteration of the legendary show). Despite a stoically disfigured Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon (2008)) and a fair Cameron Diaz (Being John Malkovich (1999)), (although James Marsden is vapid here), too much in The Box is unmotivated and mysterious apparently for the sake of being mysterious.
The Box remains as mysterious as its box, which is unsatisfying. It does, however, have its appropriately unpleasant moments and an effective score by Owen Pallet (Her (2013)) and Win Butler and Regine Chassagne of Canadian rock band Arcade Fire.
Its writer-director Richard Kelly made a miraculous masterpiece in his feature debut Donnie Darko (2001), but then followed it up with two big critical and commercial disappointments, Southland Tales (2005) and The Box, and hasn't done anything since.

Related posts:

2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

James Marsden and Cameron Diaz by the mysterious box in Richard Kelly's The Box

Watching the trailer, you want to believe in The Box, - and I always want to believe in Richard Kelly, my hero after Donnie Darko, - but then you watch the film ...

Budget: 30 mil. $
Box office: 32.9 mil. $
= Flop

What did you think of The Box?
Will Richard Kelly ever make another movie?
Please take this cyber-space to urge him to do so