Please, just let the trailer stop playing! I've seen the same preview for The Recruit 23 million times, and frankly, I don't think that's an exaggeration. Every bit of it scorched into my retina, and every time I feel like I've been told too much. And I think so after seeing the movie. We get it: Everyone has secrets; everyone can be manipulated; no one can be trusted.

But the filmmakers are scary judge of talents, and that makes all the difference. New Hollywood stud Colin Farrell (Minority Report, soon to be in Daredevil) is smart as a whip, athletic and drawn to the memory of his late father. Al Pacino takes on the elder role as Farrell's CIA recruiter and mentor. Al knows all, Al sees all. Statuesque beauty Bridget Moynahan (Sum of All Fears) is Farrell's love interest and the perfect pairing for him.

I'm always up for spy intrigue, and lately Hollywood has delivered some solid ones on that front (Spy Games, The Bourne Identity). The viewing experience was enjoyable through this as well, with cool training at The Farm (CIA's training facility), cool gadgets, and cool spy machinations.

It's not all glowing. The actual juice once Farrell is in the real world doesn't compute, and could probably be compressed into a more understandable format. Something about a computer thingamajig called Ice 9. Also, I wasn't a big fan of the ultimate why-they-done-it soliloquy.

Still, there's enough to like, and I'll recommend it for fans of the spy genre.

The verdict: