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?THE
RECRUIT?
Production Information
In an era when the country?s first line of defense, intelligence,
is more important than ever, comes an explosive thriller starring
Al Pacino and Colin Farrell. For the first time, the CIA?s infamous
closed doors are opened, giving an insider?s view into the Agency:
how trainees are recruited, how they are prepared for the spy game,
and how they learn to survive in a world of secrets. James Clayton
(COLIN FARRELL) might not have the attitude of a typical recruit,
but he is one of the smartest graduating seniors in the country
? and he?s just the person that Walter Burke (AL PACINO) wants in
the Agency.
James regards the CIA?s mission as an intriguing alternative to
an ordinary life, but before he becomes an Ops Officer, James has
to survive the Agency?s secret training ground, where green recruits
are molded into seasoned veterans. As Burke teaches him the ropes
and the rules of the game, James quickly rises through the ranks
and in the process falls for Layla (BRIDGET MOYNAHAN), one of his
fellow recruits. But just when James starts to question his role
and his cat-and-mouse relationship with his mentor, Burke taps him
for a special assignment to root out a mole. As the suspense builds
toward a gripping climax, it soon becomes clear that the CIA?s old
maxims are true: ?trust no one? and ?nothing is what it seems.?
Touchstone Pictures? and Spyglass Entertainment?s ?The Recruit?
stars Al Pacino, Colin Farrell, Bridget Moynahan and Gabriel Macht.
Roger Donaldson directs from a script written by Roger Towne and
Kurt Wimmer and Mitch Glazer. Roger Birnbaum, Jeff Apple, and Gary
Barber produce. Jonathan Glickman and Ric Kidney serve as executive
producers. Buena Vista Pictures distributes.
ABOUT THE FILM?
?The idea of creating a story that dealt with CIA recruitment was
fascinating,? says Roger Birnbaum, producer of Touchstone Pictures?/Spyglass
Entertainment?s ?The Recruit.? ?Who are these young people that
are willing to do this job that so few are willing to do? How does
this clandestine organization choose people for this job? These
are the types of questions that came to mind.?
The idea of telling this story with Al Pacino ? an Academy Award?
winner and one of the greatest actors in film history ? was also
irresistible. ?He?s an icon,? says producer Gary Barber. ?Every
moment on screen, you believe in him.?
??The Recruit? is a psychological thriller, with twists and turns.
You?re never sure who the good guys are, or what?s going to happen
next. It?s set in the CIA?s training facility, but at its heart,
it?s a performance piece anchored by Al Pacino,? says director Roger
Donaldson, whose films include the political thrillers ?No Way Out?
and ?Thirteen Days.?
?On another level, this is a story about a young man searching for
his father,? adds producer Gary Barber. ?It?s a journey for James
to come to terms with his father?s absence.?
?Spy
training doesn?t come from a book,? says producer Jeff Apple, who
previously oversaw another film dealing with an equally clandestine
organization ? the Secret Service ? with the hit ?In the Line of
Fire.?
?It
requires a collection of skills that range from, on the visceral
side, explosives training, and parachuting, to a very cerebral part
of distinguishing what?s real and what?s not, how to disguise yourself,
how to play a role and become the ultimate actor.?
CIA spokesperson Chase Brandon was instrumental in giving his insight
into the Agency?s facilities, methods, and complex recruitment process:
the way in which the Agency identifies suitable candidates, recruits
them, and molds them into operation officers.
?The training that goes on in the Agency is very interesting, and
we do have an area where we conduct clandestine training for our
operations officers,? says Brandon. ?I?m aware that people think
that we call it The Farm. In wonderfully classical Agency response,
I can neither confirm nor deny that such a place exists, but I will
say that if we were going to give our training facility an interesting
name, The Farm perhaps could be an appropriate thing to call it.?
Brandon arranged visits for the filmmakers to CIA headquarters in
Langley, Virginia, and, where possible, gave information that had
a direct effect on the story. ?We had the opportunity to see how
the operation works, and more importantly, what the people are like,?
remembers Apple.
Director Roger Donaldson was chosen to bring the story to the screen.
Barber and Birnbaum were pleased to have the opportunity to work
with Donaldson, who?s well known for creating finely nuanced, intelligent
and suspenseful films. ?Gary and I feel that Roger?s film ?No Way
Out? shared similar characteristics with ?The Recruit,?? says Birnbaum.
?We have known Roger for a long time and it was wonderful to finally
work with him again, after previously making the thriller ?White
Sands,? with him,? say Birnbaum and Barber.
Donaldson says that he loves making thrillers. ?I have done a number
of movies that have a thriller quality to them, and even the dramas
that I have done have always had an element of danger, violence,
and intrigue. I have done films about Washington; ?Thirteen Days?
is set in the White House and ?No Way Out? was set in the Pentagon.
Now this one is about the CIA. These three institutions run not
only Washington and the USA, but have a major impact on the world,
so there?s something inherently interesting about these institutions,?
notes Donaldson.
Besides the appeal of the story and its themes, the idea of working
with Al Pacino as CIA instructor Walter Burke and Colin Farrell
as new recruit James Clayton, made it easy for the director to commit.
?Both Al and Colin are among the best actors working today. Working
with actors of their caliber is an easy situation to accept,? he
says.
Roger Birnbaum explains the choices.
?Both Al and Colin are consummate actors. They both have a wonderful
connection to their craft. Al?s personality hints at a mercurial
nature that goes hand in hand with being authoritative and mysterious.
The audience has the feeling that when Al speaks, he knows things
that he isn?t going to tell. Who better to play a spy??
As many directors before him, Donaldson has only the highest praise
for Pacino?s approach to, and practice of his craft. ?He?s among
the best actors of his generation. Al is a perfectionist, who is
very demanding of himself. There?s no one harder on Al than Al.
It doesn?t get better than that for a director. My job was to make
Al know that his good work was being appreciated,? says Donaldson.
Farrell?s voice changes when he speaks of his experience working
with Al Pacino. ?I got on so well with him. I love the man dearly.
He?s so smart and so talented. I didn?t expect him to be that funny,
but he?s hilarious. I laughed so much. I have learned a lot ? to
change the takes, to keep it fresh. They say that no man is an island,
but in terms of his talent, he is a whole country.?
Pacino had a similar effect on the other actors. The phrase most
frequently heard among them was ?going to class? ? none of the actors
had to pretend while shooting the sequences in the classroom. Moynahan
relives the experience, ?All of my scenes with Al were in the classroom
environment. I had the pleasure of getting a front row seat to the
best acting lessons in the business. You don?t have to act on paying
attention. It is Al Pacino working. You pay attention.?
?I loved working with Al because it?s not every day you get to work
with an American icon and learn his process. I enjoyed seeing him
play and take these incredible risks,? recalls Macht.
?I was over the moon when I found out that I?d be working with Al,?
Farrell sums up. ?He?s a legend, he?s a craftsman, he?s a genius.
I loved working with him.?
Of his character, Farrell says, ?I seem to be attracted to characters
that have had, or are undergoing, a major life-changing experience.
When James was 12, his father died in a plane crash and his mother
died from natural causes when he was 14. He pretends that he doesn?t
take things too seriously, but in fact he takes everything very
seriously. I was attracted to how damaged he was, and how at the
age of 25, he wasn?t a man. He hadn?t found himself. He has no reference
because he can?t remember his parents.?
The film?s dramatic core was another element that appealed to Farrell?s
creative sensibilities. ?It?s always nice to have somewhere to go
with characters. Start somewhere, go through something and end up
in a different place. It?s nice to have that journey, where the
events serve and sculpt the character as a human being, rather than
the character being there just to serve the story.?
Farrell likens James? relationship with Burke to that of a father
and son. ?It?s a strained relationship. James sees Burke as a father
figure, even though Burke plays him like a fiddle. Burke manipulates
him, tricks him, pulls James towards him, and pushes him away. He
does all this for a purpose that ends up working.?
Donaldson instinctively knew that Farrell was the right choice.
?Colin is an extremely talented and energetic actor, who?s not hampered
by his good looks. He was always perfectly prepared for anything
the script called for on any given day.?
Bridget Moynahan was cast as Layla Moore, another CIA recruit. She
had read several versions of the script and her impression of the
character remained the same. ?Layla is a very intelligent, ambitious,
and determined woman. She has a precise goal and really doesn?t
plan on anything getting in her way. At the same time, she is very
much in touch with her heart. Layla is also sensitive and struggles
at time between her heart and her head, a situation that I think
a lot of strongminded and career-oriented women go through.
She is definitely someone that I can relate to.? The filmmakers
knew the type of woman they wanted for the role of Layla and Moynahan
fit the criteria. Barber notes, ?For the role of Layla we wanted
a young woman, not a young girl. Bridget is a fine actress who is
both beautiful and intelligent. She suggests both mental and physical
strength. Bridget makes Layla come alive.?
The role of Zach, whose intentions arouse Clayton?s suspicions from
the start was won by Gabriel Macht. ?The role of Zach interested
me because he competes for the attention of Burke, along with James.
I find him to be the perfect candidate for the CIA. He plays by
the rules and has wanted a position like this from his early upbringing.
I also like the aspect that in the CIA as an operative... one never
knows where one really comes from. Zach appears to be entirely duplicitous.
The twists and turns of the film are suspenseful and thrilling.?
Donaldson relished the idea of working with this particular group
of actors, many of who were not very well known at the time they
were cast. ?It?s more difficult to create a mystery with actors
who are well known. They can often play against the story that you
are trying to create. This combination gives me more freedom as
a director.?
Despite limited time, the actors did a variety of things to prepare
for their roles. ?I read different books as far as my research for
this film. I read My Spy - A Memoir of a CIA Wife by Bina Cady Kiyonaga
and The Book Of Honor by Ted Gulp, which inspects the secret lives
and deaths of CIA operatives, and an extremely informative intelligence
magazine that covers the CIA, NSA, MIG, and the FBI,? recalls Macht.
?I also did a film last year where I played a CIA operative who
was a surveillance specialist. For that role, I had done some reading
on the Delta Force and I worked closely with an Army Ranger who
told me countless stories about the training aspect involved in
becoming an Army Ranger and then a CIA op. It all came in very handy.?
While the cast enjoyed playing spies on screen, none of them have
any desire to try out the roles in real life. Moynahan explains,
?One of the things that really baffled me when reading stories about
some agents? lives was their capability to lie to the ones they
love. I can?t imagine having to live a double life. The job is a
necessary one, but having to deceive everyone that you care about
would be too difficult.?
Farrell visited the MIT campus to get the feel of being a student,
but for the most part, he worked on his accent. In that task, he
trained with dialogue coach Michael Buster, who has worked with
Farrell for his first five American films, including last summer?s
hit, ?Minority Report.? For three weeks prior to shooting, they
worked daily to change Farrell?s Irish brogue to what Buster calls
?a general American accent that?s difficult to pin to any particular
region. There are no identifiable things to latch onto.?
Like everyone else on set, Donaldson was amazed that ?Colin could
turn the accent on and off.?
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION?
Roger Donaldson was intent on getting the details right. When production
began at a farmhouse outside of Toronto, it was after many weeks
of careful preparation and attention to detail. ?Realism is something
that I enjoy creating on the screen. I want the audience to feel
like it?s really there. It looks easy to do, but trying to distill
out of anything what the reality of it is difficult. It?s always
a challenge,? comments Donaldson.
Production designer Andrew McAlpine and cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh
took on that challenge. They were both committed to the task of
giving the film a realistic look and feel. For inspiration, McAlpine
watched films and studied pictures to create the look that he describes
as ?a realistic depiction of a fictional world. There?s no precedent
for The Farm, no one knows what The Farm is, so it gave me an open
book to create.?
?Half of the film is based upon the notion of a training base where
we, the public, would expect recruits to get the best training in
the field. The other half is at Langley, which we feel needs absolute
accuracy in terms of representing the nature of that fortress of
buildings,? continues McAlpine.
Since its creation, The Central Intelligence Agency?s tradition
of secrecy and intrigue has been a fount of inspiration for many
screenwriters and novelists. In the past the Agency responded to
most inquiries for information with either ?no comment? or ?I can
neither confirm nor deny?,? according to the CIA?s film industry
liaison, Chase Brandon. ?Given that posture, we invariably left
ourselves open to be interpreted by screenwriters and novelists,?
says Brandon. ?By not responding when we were shown in a negative
light, and by failing to offer actual information as background
research, we only added to the likelihood that writers would continue
to misrepresent the true mission of the Agency and fail to portray
the true heroism, patriotism, honor and integrity of CIA officers.?
After decades of silence, the CIA decided to change its policy and
sought to become more involved in promoting its public image. Aware
that it was the clandestine nature of its operations that fueled
the public?s imagination, the CIA?s Office of Public Affairs asked
Chase Brandon, a covert field operations officer for 25 years, to
drop cover and begin an overt dialog with the film industry. Brandon?s
new mission was very straightforward: ?If someone wants to make
a TV show, a documentary or a feature film about us and treat us
in a fair and balanced way, chances are we can provide some reasonable
measure of support and cooperation to the project.?
Brandon added, ?We understand that dramatic storytelling involves
taking poetic license with facts. For example, a CIA recruit would
never have to go through the kind of physical abuse that Colin Farrell?s
character endures. But, that said, I must say that I appreciated
the producers? and director?s efforts to ensure that other aspects
of tactical training were realistically portrayed. Certainly, ?The
Recruit? shows Agency life more accurately than many films in the
past.?
When the Agency commits to providing their support to a project,
that can include letting a photographer shoot stills to help in
designing sets, or, in certain instances, having the actors spend
time in the building. By visiting Langley, the director says, he
came to ?understand how the space worked and looked. I needed a
real sense of how a new person would feel when they saw the place
for the first time.?
After security concerns dictated that the filmmakers could no longer
visit the building, Brandon was still able to assist the production,
although in a different way. Instead of having the production take
pictures to help with set design, Brandon did it himself. ?I measured
all of the distances between the stars on the memorial wall and
the size of the statues in the lobby. I tried to give the art department
and set decoration crew something that they could work with to make
the end product look real. I took a lot of phone calls for many,
many months.?
Some of those calls came from propmaster Deryck Blake. He had the
task of trying to determine whether certain gadgets and types of
technology existed. An important plot point revolves around a gadget
called the paper ant ? a miniscule, biodegradable listening device.
Blake didn?t know if the technology existed, and if it did, what
the gadget might look like. ?I called Chase, I called Harvard, MIT
- everywhere I could think of, to see what I could find out. I know
now of technology that operates on a molecular level does exist.?
When he couldn?t find definitive proof that something existed, Blake
and his team did the next best thing. ?We dreamt things up and made
our best guess as to what things would look like.?
There was some guesswork involved in recreating the lobby of the
CIA headquarters at Langley. A scenic artist developed a process
that uses formica to float a pigment which then resembled marble
on the walls of the structure. The floors were made from terrazzo,
discovered through a local Toronto dealer with a large quantity
left from a job for a Las Vegas casino. Working from three pictures
and a brochure sent by Brandon, the art department rose to the occasion
with creative methods of calculating the dimensions of the space.
?We used the height of a shoe in the picture ? which we knew was
a given height ? and used that to calibrate the sixteen-foot pillars,?
recalls McAlpine.
The end result was so authentic, that the CIA?s senior executives
couldn?t believe their eyes when they were shown a still photograph
of the set. ?They were utterly astounded. It looks better than our
lobby,? laughs Brandon.
The interior of The Farm ? the instruction area of the facility
? is another example of McAlpine?s creative vision. He wanted the
audience to ?catch their breath? on seeing the interior for the
first time. ?I wanted a dramatic counterpoint to the utilitarian
exterior of The Farm ? a contradiction of materials. The polygraph
area with the steel, glass, and brushed aluminum would be quite
hard, reflective and un-giving against the soft hue and wood feel.?
Director of photography Stuart Dryburgh had to respond to Donaldson?s
request for a ?gritty, realistic feel and look, but with pizzazz.?
"?The Recruit? is a human drama set in the world of the CIA,
which uses the aesthetic of a spy movie, a realistic one.? He worked
with a winter palette of greys and blues for the training sequences,
then shifted for the urban areas, where he used shades of orange
and dirty yellow. The climax of the film makes another transition
to ?creepier colors of greens, cyan blues and greys.?
Along with his devotion to the details of realism, Donaldson also
wanted to have the liberty to experiment with movement within the
frame. For most of the film, the camera stays with James? point
of view, except in certain sequences when angles are used to suggest
that someone else is watching. Donaldson credits camera/steadicam
operator Gilles Corbeil and focus puller, Christopher Raucamp with
allowing him to ?free up the camera. I couldn?t have achieved it
without them. They are a fantastic combination.?
After ten weeks in Toronto, the production shifted to Washington,
D.C. to capture the film?s exterior sequences. The weather was cool
and rainy for the majority of the shoot, but nothing could dampen
the experience of being in a city with such dramatic views of historical
significance. Using locations like the Iwo Jima Memorial, the atrium
of Union train station, the Tidal Basin parking lot with its dramatic
view of the Washington Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial gives
the film the authenticity that Donaldson wanted to achieve.
In completing principal photography, Donaldson comments, ?there
were days when we had plenty of difficult things to do, but everyday
was a joy on set. It helps when everyone is committed to the task
at hand, the actors and the crew.?
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