| “ | There's this parish priest, goes up to the Pope, drops down on his knees, starts weeping... asking forgiveness. "Holy father, holy father, what am I to do? What am I to do? I do not believe in God anymore. What am i to do?" And you know what the pope said... "Fake it." | „ |
| ~ Burke revealing his true nature |
| “ | Nothing... is... what it seems. | „ |
| ~ Burke showing a trick to Clayton |
Walter Burke is the main antagonist of the 2003 spy thriller movie The Recruit.
He was played by Al Pacino who also played Tony Montana in Scarface, Lefty in Donnie Brasco, Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Big Boy in Dick Tracy, John Milton in The Devil's Advocate, Willy Bank in Ocean's Thirteen, David Fisk in Righteous Kill, Roy Cohn in Angels in America, King Richard III in Looking for Richard, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, and Wilhelm Zuchs in Hunters.
Biography[]
Walter Burke is a CIA Agent who is tasked to recruit new potentials candidates. Noticing a great potential in James Clayton, he invites him to join the department, hinting that his father was in fact a CIA agent. Clayton accepts and, after going through numerous checks, ends up at The Farm, a CIA training camp. There, Burke and other instructors train candidates in a variety of spying, intelligence gathering and covert operations techniques.
In a hands-on observation session, Clayton and his partner Leila Moore are kidnapped by strangers, allegedly working for foreign intelligence services. Clayton's kidnappers tortured him for several days, demanding the names of The Farm instructors. He initially refuses, but interrogators present him with evidence that his partner is suffering because of his resistance. Clayton breaks down and calls Burke. The back wall of the cell opens to reveal Burke, Layla, and other cadets attending a conference on The Farm. Kidnapping was another activity from which cadets who saw Clayton collapse were to learn valuable lessons. Clayton is evicted of the Farm for this failure, but Burke comes to see him the next morning. He says Clayton didn't fail and that his eviction was a ruse. In reality, the CIA wants to use Clayton as an agent without official cover to spy on Leila. Burke explains that Layla is suspected of working with foreign agents to steal CIA secrets, especially a very sensitive computer virus called "ICE-9" because it transmits over the power grid rather than telecommunications and is easily able to disable all electrical devices on the planet at once. Burke gives him also a gun to defend himself.
After a terrible incident where Zack, another CIA's recruit, is killed over a pursuit because Clayton believed him to be a foreign spy, having seen Laila giving him something, he contacts Burke, who offers to transfer the operation to others. Clayton refuses and intercepts Leila on his own. Taken with a flash drive, Layla explains to him that she has official permission to steal the fake virus, that she works for the CIA and checks Langley's security system, and Zack was an agent with no official coverage. Clayton doesn't believe her because he's a programmer and knows the virus is real. He lets Leila go because he loves her and can't figure out who really works for the CIA and who doesn't. While trying to find answers, he meets Burke. Burke says everything that happened was just a fake test, that Zack never died and that Clayton's pistol is loaded with blanks. To dispel all doubts, Burke invites Clayton to shoot him. When Clayton pulls the trigger, Burke drops the pistol from his hand. The real bullet shatters the window, proving Burke was lying.
Clayton hides in an abandoned warehouse as Burke tries to find him, bragging about how he cleverly tricked everyone around him into selling Ice 9 for $ 3 million. He also states that Clayton's father was never a CIA agent. Having found Clayton, he threatens him with a gun, demanding to give him the laptop with the virus on it. Clayton agrees to hand over the laptop, only to show he's passing a tape of Burke's confession to the CIA. Burke becomes enraged and chases Clayton to the exit, where the SWAT team is already stationed. However, the traitorous instructor doesn't know Clayton was lying, and the CIA wants to arrest Clayton, knowing nothing about what really happened. Thinking he has been caught, Burke unleashes a torrent of abuse at the CIA, which has been unfair to him. Hearing this, the CIA agents understand what really happened and ask Burke to drop his gun. Realizing that he has exposed himself, Burke refuses to go in jail for his crimes. He points his empty gun toward the CIA team who shoots and kills him.
Trivia[]
- It was never explained why he betrayed the USA and gave information to its enemies.