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Bruce Willis and Richard Gere co-star in this wobbly, underwhelming thriller about an imprisoned IRA fighter (Gere) who helps the FBI hunt down a mysterious assassin known as ‘The Jackal’ (Willis) before he kills a high-profile political target at the behest of the Russian mob. Part of this movie’s problem is that Willis is playing a villain when nobody wants him to. His character is misconceived and confounding, conceived as a dark James Bond who spits out Die Hard-style one-liners until the midpoint. That’s when Willis brutally murders a poor contractor played by young Jack Black, punishing the audience for even thinking he was anything less than pure evil. The film’s other big mistake is that it gives Willis too much screen time, turning Gere into a supporting player in his own hero’s journey.
Director Michael Caton-Jones (Memphis Belle, Rob Roy) struggles to generate much suspense and there’s very little action until the final act. The script, adapted from the 1973 film The Day of the Jackal, favors tangled plotting over character development, failing to make any of the dramatic stakes compelling for the audience. For three-quarters of the film, we don’t even know whose life is in danger. Willis is only occasionally effective as a villain, but Gere is surprisingly good in this film, even with a phony Irish accent. His subtle, affectionate relationship with a scarred Russian official played by Diane Venora (Heat) is the film’s most interesting narrative thread. Sidney Poitier makes a welcome appearance as the FBI officer working with Gere and Venora. If the film focused more on these three characters and less on ‘The Jackal’ himself, it would stand a better chance at hooking the audience and making them care about what’s happening.
With J.K. Simmons, Stephen Spinella, and Mathilda May (Lifeforce).