Roger Donaldson ("Thirteen Days") directs "The Recruit," the latest formulaic thriller-of-the-week, this time starring Colin Farrell ("Minority Report") and Al Pacino. "The Recruit" joins William Friedkin's "The Hunted" as this season's offering of militant mentor-disciple films. But not only that, there are currently two other CIA-related films in theaters -- "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" and "The Quiet American."In this light, the decisive verdict is that "The Recruit" is painfully mediocre.

Farrell is James Clayton, an MIT grad student who works as a bartender in Boston and hopes to get a high paying job with Dell after his creation of a revolutionary computer program entitled "Spartacus." These plans are thwarted when CIA recruiter Walter Burke (Pacino) gets his cryptic hands on Clayton, feeding him a line about his deceased father and piquing his interest. As Burke repeatedly notes, he's "a dangerous judge of talent" and Clayton has what it takes. Soon enough Clayton is on a government bus heading for "the Farm," the CIA training facility that resides somewhere in Virginia. On the way, Clayton meets Layla (Bridget Moynahan of "Serendipity"), a recruit from Worcester, Mass. whom he sets his sights on.

Once at "the Farm," the intense training begins as the recruits learn the ways and technology of the CIA as a bland, Bond-esque montage informs us. This fast-paced section is Pacino's showcase as he barks CIA maxims left and right. The two most important lessons, as Pacino notes, are "nothing is as it seems" and "never get got." Meanwhile, Clayton still has his eye on the attractive Layla, which lands them both in some embarrassing situations.

During one of Burke's "nothing is as it seems" lessons, Clayton unknowingly caves in and is booted out of "the Farm." However, he is soon contacted by Burke to let him know that it was only a test and he in fact has graduated and has been enlisted to help his government.

After the cloak-and-dagger exposition, Clayton is given his first assignment, a rather precarious one. It turns out that Layla is a foreign agent trying a secret code known as "Ice 9" (from Vonnegut's "Cat's Cradle") from Langley. Clayton is given the cover of data entry personel and must find Layla, seduce her and extract the needed information. He of course is successful, and they develop a thoroughly unbelieving, mistrusting relationship. The writers have not given the movie much possibility, as now the movie has become essentially a party of three. Who could the traitor be (Hint: It is not the girl)? This mysterious beginning lends itself into the misery of a third act that lets the movie fizzle into a predictable, unforgivable conclusion.

The mediocre snooze of Farrell's performance doesn't help in the story department either. Farrell flaunts his body on-stage with a pathetic masculinity that makes it seem like the male species may be going extinct. To complement him is, of course, Pacino, who is the only redeeming factor of this film. His rough-and-ready, "Scent of a Woman"-derivative performance is nothing new to anyone but its still fun to watch, as is any Pacino film. Pacino's all-too-short appearance as Walter Burke and his little grace-notes of dialogue and character make you want to go pick up half a dozen Pacino flicks after leaving the theater in order to make up for the disappointing drudgery just witnessed.

And, of course, "The Recruit" is inevitably filled with the ubiquitious post-September 11th, pre-war-on-Iraq undertones that are expected of any "serious" action film these days. The film skates across this political territory rather strangely. The CIA element is obvious yet un-specific, like the scene in which Pacino informs Farrell that he's been selected as the NOC (some kind of unrecognized undercover agent) with the capitol looming in the background. But, of course most of these plentiful hints are only the most blatant (Colin Farrell's MIA father, who worked for Shell Oil and may or may not have flirted with the CIA, died abroad in 1990).

Unless you're fatally in need of seeing another action flick this very moment, or you're a really hardcore Pacino fan and don't want to rent "Serpico" and "Donnie Brasco," please don't see this movie.