James Clayton was top of his class at MIT and a real computer whiz. He also is athletic, good looking and has a past that makes him a prime target for Walter Burke who is recruiting for the CIA. Clayton is an orphan who has been searching for the reason his father died over a decade earlier. He believes him to have been a CIA operative that was disavowed by the agency when his mission failed. So when Burke comes to him he intrigued and willing to go along with the recruitment if it will possibly gain him knowledge on who is father was. He is brought to what the CIA affectionately refers to as the “farm” a training facility for CIA recruits. There under the direction of Burke he will be put under numerous tests and exercises to see if he has what it takes to become a CIA operative. But it all goes wrong when he meets a beautiful fellow recruit who he is instantly stricken by. Burke will use and does use everything to try and break Clayton to make sure if he has what it takes. And he is willing to use the woman Clayton might love as well as he tries to convince him she is a mole. Now Clayton does not know who to trust, what is up and what is down and he is about to be thrown into the most dangerous of games.

Al Pacino and Colin Farrell do an excellent job at playing their parts. They seem to feed off each other at times and do a great job at complimenting each other. The problem in the movie does not lie in their excellent portrayals of their characters but instead with something that seemed to be inherently wrong with the plot and story. The movie tries to throw twists and turns at you to give you surprises and to not make you sure what is going to happen but it fails miserably in the end. This is not to say the movie wasn’t entertaining and enthralling it was but the surprise ending they try and throw at you is so miserably done it almost ruins the entire movie. Pacino is the one who seems to give away too much instead of playing it closer to the vest and making the ending work. The movie does start slow and takes awhile to get going but in the end it does deliver as a very good suspense movie that just shoots itself in the foot at the end. Bridget Moynahan who plays Farrell’s love interest does a very good job but her part is too limited. She deserved more screen time as she ads quite a bit to the overall story. All in all the movie is quite good and entertaining. I found myself enthralled at times by Al and Colin’s characters, which were so well done you, could not help but feel a kinship to them. That’s why it is sad that they ruined the movie with their miserable ending. Go see it but don’t expect too much.
3 stars out of 5