THE JACKAL
In director Michael Caton-Jones's loosely based remake of Fred Zinnemann's
The Day of the Jackal (1973), the classic theme of using a criminal
to catch a criminal is employed. Russian and American detectives, headed
by Carter Preston (Sydney Poitier), make a deal with maximum security inmate
Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere) to help them find a cunning killer-for-hire
known only as The Jackal (Bruce Willis) before he assassinates someone very
important. We don't know exactly who the intended victim is, but the Russian
official who hired The Jackal has a vendetta and a reputation for "very
public, very bloody" revenge. So while Willis's character is running
around the globe collecting the weaponry he'll need to do the job, the detectives
and Mulqueen, whom they don't trust very much, are running around the globe
trying to intercept Mr. J. Of course, Mulqueen has an old score to settle
with Jackal, so this is his reason for participating in the deal.
For a master-of-disguises known for his discretion, The Jackal certainly
causes a lot of unnecessary commotion. When he is being tailed by the detectives,
he nonchalantly pulls into a parking garage, and then does so much tire-squealing
that no one could possibly mistake his whereabouts or that he's up to no
good. When he is spotted by Mulqueen on a boat dock, rather than walking
casually away, he opens fire — drawing attention from the other detectives
as well as many passers-by. He is continually shooting innocent people for
no good reason. The film has other ridiculous plot developments, like the
high-level detective (Diane Venora) who is shot and is allowed to die 20
minutes later, surrounded by cops, with no medical help. And the slightly
retooled baseball-bat scene stolen shamelessly from The Untouchables.
Although there are some genuine thrills and some very cool music, this film is mainly run-of-the-mill action/adventure fare: lots of loud, meaningless violence with high-tech weapons. If you like that, live it up. **½