THE JACKAL
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING: ** OUT OF ****
United States, 1997 U.S. Release Date: 111/14/97 (wide) Running Length: 2:02 MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sydney Poitier, Diane Venora, Mathilda May, Tess Harper Director: Michael Caton-Jones Producers: James Jacks, Sean Daniel, Kevin Jarre, and Michael Caton-Jones Screenplay: Chuck Pfarrer based on the motion picture screenplay THE DAY OF THE JACKAL by Kenneth Ross Cinematography: Karl Walter Lindenlaub Music: Carter Burwell U.S. Distributor: Universal Pictures
The public relations people at Universal Pictures are going out of their way to emphasize that THE JACKAL is not a remake of Fred Zinnemann's 1973 masterpiece, THE DAY OF THE JACKAL. While acknowledging that this new motion picture is based on the original, producer James Jacks stressed that the first film's "central premise [serves] as the basis for a whole new suspense thriller." Actually, the more distance the studio places between the two films, the better, because the 1997 production can't hold a candle to the 1973 release, and an attempted comparison only makes the new Bruce Willis/Richard Gere vehicle look worse. Anyone who believes the least inspired remake to star Willis was LAST MAN STANDING (a re-working of A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS/YOJIMBO) may have reason to re-think that position after seeing this movie.
What has survived? Not much, and certainly not any sense of true suspense. THE DAY OF THE JACKAL was a real white-knuckler. THE JACKAL is so lifeless that there are times when it's in danger of putting the audience into a coma. The central idea -- about an expensive assassin being hired to kill a high-profile target -- remains the same. This time, the Jackal is played by an uncharismatic Bruce Willis, whose interpretation does little to efface the mark left by Edward Fox. Beyond the bare-bones plot skeleton, however, screenwriter Chuck Pfarrer has changed a lot, albeit little for the better. And director Michael- Caton Jones, who did wonderful work on both SCANDAL and ROB ROY, fails to connect with this material.
On this occasion, the Jackal is a high-tech killer. His arsenal includes state-of-the-art, computer-controlled weapons, he's plugged into the Internet, and he uses a cellular phone. Like Val Kilmer in THE SAINT, he's a master of disguise, although Willis is recognizable no matter what color his hair is, what clothes he's wearing, or how much makeup he has on. The Jackal's target is a highly-placed person in the United States -- perhaps the director of the FBI, and his asking price for the hit is a cool $70 million. For that, he will do the deed then disappear forever.
But a deputy director at the FBI, Carter Preston (Sydney Poitier), knows that something is up, and he suspects that the Jackal, an almost- mythical killer (at one point, Preston states: "We've never been able to prove if he even exists"), may be involved. So, along with Major Valentina Koslova (Diane Venora), a member of the Russian police force involved in the case, Preston seeks the aid of Declan Mulqueen (Gere), an IRA terrorist serving a prison term for weapons violations. Mulqueen has knowledge that's vital to stopping the Jackal, but there's a catch - - he won't divulge it unless his demands are met. Eventually, Mulqueen is out of jail, albeit in FBI custody, and the chase is on.
The problem is that the chase, which should be a taut nail-biter, is dull. Yes, it zips from country-to-country, globe trotting from Moscow to Helsinki to Montreal to Washington D.C. to Chicago, but, aside from a few interesting explorations into the complexity of the Jackal's methods, there's very little of interest here. In the original THE DAY OF THE JACKAL, the buildup was the payoff. Here, it's just filler while we're waiting for the predictable final show-down between the two leads. And, if you can't guess how that turns out, you don't see many movies.
In the place of genuine tension, THE JACKAL resorts to bloody violence. Plot contrivances abound as well. Aside from the gaping holes in logic, there's the simple matter of the Jackal's supposed intelligence. I say "supposed," because there are times when he comes across as a borderline-moron. During the course of the film, he has several chances to kill Mulqueen, but what does he do instead? Stares at him for an inordinately long time, then smirks once or twice -- that's the method of a Hollywood invention, not a believable expert. Mulqueen, on the other hand, makes so many brilliant leaps of intuition that one suspects him of having a direct link to the Psychic Network.
The two lead characters, the Jackal and Mulqueen, are described as "ice" and "fire." It's easy to see Willis' performance as icy -- the Jackal is completely emotionless throughout. Gere, on the other hand, doesn't do much to infuse Mulqueen with tangible passion, although the actor is better here than in his recent anti-Chinese flop, RED CORNER (and his Irish brogue is an improvement over some of the recent accents we've been subjected too). In supporting roles, Sydney Poitier exudes more dignity than the film deserves, and Diane Venora is credible as a tough-as-nails MVD officer. Mathilda May has a small role as an old flame of Mulqueen's who knows the secret of his connection to the Jackal.
THE JACKAL starts strongly, but it doesn't take long for the film to devolve into a series of familiar formulas. And, without a sense of mounting tension or at least a few interesting characters, the movie's trajectory propels us into a realm of burgeoning boredom. Despite being 30 minutes shorter than its 1973 inspiration, this incarnation feels three times as long. When it comes to animals, THE JACKAL is just a dog in disguise.
Copyright 1997 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli e-mail: berardin@mail.cybernex.net
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