The Jackal (1997)

Best movie ever!

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The Jackal (1997): Dir: Michael Caton-Jones / Cast: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier, Diane Venora, Jack Black: Remake of Day of the Jackal that gets reduced to formula and a game of cat and mouse. Bruce Willis stars as the Jackal, an assassin whose disguises mainly consist of wigs but his methods are savage. The C.I.A enlist a criminal played by Richard Gere to help track down Willis. Graphic violence becomes the norm including a scene where someone's arm is blown off. It is obvious the Gere and Willis will meet and have a violent confrontation that will solve absolutely nothing. Director Michael Caton-Jones handles the action but the production is nothing marvelous. Willis and Gere have little screen time together and when they are within the same general location it is indicated with a really lame glare via Willis as if he senses Gere's presence. Willis also phones up some homosexual guy whom he shoots dead for no reason. Also wasting time is Sidney Poitier and Diane Venora who hopefully didn't get their hopes up on this film actually turning out good. Jack Black appears to supply Willis with arms only to have his arm blown off before being finished off with a second blast. This sort of junk has been done countless times but for the two leads it will hopefully lead to a better film to embark upon in the future. The screenplay has more bark than bite. Score: 1 / 10

It took a friend a lot of convincing to make me see "The Jackal". After all, the original "Day of the Jackal" remains one of my all-time favorites and since I'm not particularly fond of remakes, I gave this film a skip for many years. However, there come those days of 'nothing else on TV, so what the hell' and must admit, the remake isn't half-bad.Edward Fox is one of my favorite on screen-assassins, having played his role so convincing, that it was frightening. His passionless killing-machine made him look less human than Arnies Terminator and, seeing the "Day of the Jackal" as a kid, the thought that people like this could actually exist, gave me the creeps. Other than his strange stage-crooner-persona of 'Bruno', Bruce Willis' Jackal may well be the most unusual Willis you've seen to date. Let's speak honest: Bruce is a character whom everybody likes to watch on screen – but a thespian with a great repertoire he's not. Willis seems to try and 'out-Herod' Edward Foxes psychopath from the original – and does a remarkable job. At times his performance is eerie, indeed having the evil glare of a jackal.It's a nice nod to the original (where it is not only left open whether the Jackal was hetero-, homo-, bi-sexual or something completely different) that there are hints that Willis' Jackal may actually be gay. This is not meant to sound demeaning but a gay Bruce Willis is like, let me think, a straight Bruno (the Sasha Baron Cohen Bruno, not Willis' alter-ego). While Edward Fox slept with victims of both sexes, Willis is only once seen seducing a future victim, in this case a male politician. But more so, during the few moments where we see the supposed real personality (if something like this exists) of the Jackal, there's something distinctly feminine about the character. One example would be when he kills Major Koslova, the other, more poignant, when he receives the call that the contract is off while taking a bath and sipping on Rose wine (also a remarkable scene because Willis manages to do all the acting with his eyes alone).To speak of the 'supporting' roles (because a film with Bruce Willis, other than "Pulp Fiction" only has one real star): all fine as you'd expect from veterans like Richard Gere (despite the cringe-worthy accent), Sidney Poitier (sadly, one of his last few screen-appearances), JK Simmons, Tess Harper or Jack Black (according to rumors, the audience was cheering him being shot to bits, with people remarking "wish this would happen in every film he's in").Of course the movie has weaknesses and plot-holes that are bigger than that Freudian nightmare which is the Jackals gun. For the life of me I still don't understand how the ex-terrorist Isabella Zanconia could have aided with the capture of the Jackal. But so what? In the end, this is a "boy's movie": boys who like big guns and dramatic action-scenes involving helicopters, car-chases and big guns. Boys who like loud, snappy techno-soundtracks accompanying Bruce Willis firing big guns. Boys who like to watch Jack Black being obliterated by a big gun. In short, boys like you and me – and despite still not being very fond of remakes, I can honestly say that I liked "The Jackal". "Doesn't have to be caviar all the time", goes a saying – sometimes a burger from greasy McDs will do, just as there are times for a no-brainer like "The Jackal".7 generous points out of 10, because giving points doesn't cost money.

Yeah, I know, it is so easy to bash this film as so many of you have done.It's a thriller that doesn't stand out in it's genre, pretty easy to watch but not more than that. It has a high profile cast including Bruce Willis, Richard Gere and a couple of very very decent actors slash actresses like J.K. Simmons, Diane Venora and so on, so nothing wrong with that. A more than decent director in Michael Caton-Jones, who does his best with the material he's got and doing a good job at it. Sadly he has to work with a script that has potholes the size of Hummers H3 in it, so it's easy to see why this film doesn't work the way it's supposed to.but!!!! If you have read some of the novels written by Robert Ludlum (may God rest his soul) you will have picked up some of the vibe he has put in most of his novels, putting the Jason Bourne Trilogy upfront. And just to be clear about it, I'm not talking about the miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain and also not even mentioning the Matt Damon movies (although those were really cool) but the original novels as Mr. Ludlum intended them to be. If you have these novels in the back of your head and are a fan of them you will find this movie pretty enjoyable to watch although the execution of this movie has some problems in staying believable.It is in general a pretty normal thriller with (Í'm sorry to say) some mayor flaws. But I can't escape the feeling that the script (allthough adapted from an apparent classic of which I haven't yet had the pleasure of watching) was written in the mindset of an all-out genius Robert Ludlum-vibe, which I picked up on immediately and enjoyed very much.

This movie needs some patience to watch along. The screenplay was not quite well written, it's too loose and too slow and too traditionally directed, edited with bad casting job. The Special Agent on this case was too old and not quite necessary with a role in this movie. The cooperation between the Russian and the American were a bit ridiculous and unconvincing, the sound track, the music came along with the whole movie was so bad and so out of place. The so-called "Jackal" played by Bruce Willis was too pretentious and too cliché. Casting a scar-faced Russian Military Intelligence officer was also unnecessary. But the major problem was the lame role of the FBI Special Agent in Charge, Sydney Pottier was too old not to be forced into retirement maybe 10 years late. The whole movie spent a lot of money on locations, but the lame dialog simply failed to comply with the lame screenplay. The most ridiculous thing was the never stop changing hair style and the colors as though the only thing the Jackal good at was changing his hair colors and style. Arranged a IRA terrorist imprisoned in the U.S. territory was also a very lame scenario, Richard Gere in this movie was just like a lame office boy who's so smart that every time he could just cut in during FBI meetings to point out something nobody thought about, the smartest kid in the classroom. This is a very stupid and lame movie.