Recruited (2013) User Reviews

A powerful short about family and the sacrifice they make to serve our country.

[angiequidim · 8/10 · 17 December 2013]

A brother was recruited by the Marines and he is having a casual walk with his sister discussing the responsibility of his choice.

This brief piece containing a complete three act structure, powerful acting and great cinematography is a master piece of work by director Ruben Santiago. Sonny Bhatt does a superb job portraying the character of Neil coming to an age of maturity and responsibility. The chemistry between all the characters was spot on in this drama. The story was written perfectly with very little wasted dialog. The sound mix in this sort of piece is expected to be rough and mediocre but this particular piece was handled with care; proper music and good Foley made the scene very believable. This piece, although simple was made with as much care as a good studio quality movie. It will touch you and give you a new found respect for short film.

Recruited-Beautiful tribute, Fantastic and Simple Cinematography

[jilldalejd · 8/10 · 17 December 2013]

Recruited gets to the heart of the matter very quickly. It opens on a shot of the Old Bridge in Pasadena and quickly widens to the two main characters, brother and sister, Neil and Nikki. Neil has joined the Marine's. He is having the symbolic "good-bye" talk with his younger sister - a tender moment. The next shot at the cemetery reveals Neil's death in the line of duty. Nikki has just graduated from high school and plans to honor her brother by joining the Navy. It is beautiful yet simple. Fantastic cinematography and score. I gave it an 8 because of the acting which was a bit mediocre at times. Overall, endearing short film and beautiful tribute to those who serve and have served in the military.

Sad little movie

[novoselac · 8/10 · 12 June 2015]

This movie begins with brother's and sister's final talk before he is recruited by US army marines. His girlfriend is also pregnant, he is about to become a father, and if he dies in a battle nothing will ever be the same for those people. After a long talk and sister's tears, he promises that one day he'll return and that he will be there when she graduates. But unfortunately he couldn't keep the promise! Now when her brother is gone, little girl graduated without him by her side, without him to give her life advice, and she is completely lost. Now she is making a big life mistake of joining the US army voluntarily, probably feeling that somehow it will get her closer to her brother. I strongly disagree with previous reviewer because movie had nothing to do with "sacrifice" or "serving for the country". This is one sad short movie that describes entire lost generations (like Nikki is), meaningless of war, while there are no winners in war, only losers.