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A 2003 spy thriller starring Colin Farrell as James Clayton, an MIT computer whiz, and Al Pacino as Walter Burke, a CIA operative who recruits James and becomes his instructor at The Farm, the CIA's field agent training facility. James seemingly washes out of the program after finally cracking during a kidnapping and interrogation "exercise" (which he had, as intended, believed was real) when the interrogators play on his feelings for fellow trainee Layla Moore (Bridget Moynahan). After James has left The Farm, however, Burke reveals to him that his washing out was a cover created to allow him to take a low level CIA job and help Burke ferret out a mole within the Agency who is trying to steal the top-secret computer virus program Ice-9... and the mole just might be Layla.

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This film provides examples of:

• Batman Gambit: An impressive one on Clayton's part.
• Blatant Lies: After Clayton shoots Zack, Burke tells him that his gun was filled with blanks. It isn't. His whole scheme falls apart from there.
• Cold-Blooded Torture
• Disappeared Dad: Clayton's motivation
• Engineered Public Confession: In the film's climax, Clayton tricks Burke into mistakenly believing that his boasts about his master plan have been broadcast to CIA headquarters. This causes Burke to start ranting about how the Agency has mistreated him in front of the CIA SWAT team which was there to arrest Clayton... causing them to raise their guns a few inches and target him.
• Kansas City Shuffle by Burke.
• Rage Against the Mentor
• Red Herring Mole: Layla.
• The Reveal: Burke is corrupt, and Clayton was unknowingly helping him to steal the Virus from the CIA
• Shout Out: Ice-9, the virus, gets its name from the Kurt Vonnegut book Cat's Cradle. Burke even explains the reference in the film.
• So Okay It's Average
• Suicide By Cop: Burke
• Training Accident
• Training from Hell
• Viewer-Friendly Interface
• What Happened to the Mouse?: So... did everyone forget about Zack?
  • Forgot he was killed?

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Runaway Jury

Films of the 2000s

Red Water