The Jackal
Chad'z rating: ** (out of 4 = fair)
1997, R, 124 minutes [2 hours, 4 minutes]
[thriller]
starring: Bruce Willis (The Jackal), Richard Gere (Declan Mulqueen), Sidney Poitier (FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston), Diane Vernon (Major Valentina Kolovska); written by Chuck Pfarrer; produced by Michael Caton-Jones, Sean Daniels, James Jacks, Kevin Jarre; directed by Michael Caton-Jones; based on the screenplay "The Day Of The Jackal" by Kenneth Ross.
Seen Tuesday, November 18, 1997 at 7:10 p.m. at The Glenwood Movieplex Cinemas (Oneida, N.Y.), theater #1, by myself for free (press pass). [Theater rating: *** - good sound, good picture, good seats]
They say there's only a certain amount of plots that any story can use. I'm sure I've seen them all by this point, and the movies never cease to amaze me in their efforts to convince me I haven't. Watching nearly every minute of "The Jackal" I constantly felt a sense of Deja Vu, as if I'd see it all elsewhere. But what's really scary is the fact I had seen most of it in films just as mediocre as this.
The film wastes no time in setting up its premise and revealing itself as the generic thriller it is. The first scene takes place in modern day Moscow where we witness an attempt to arrest a mobster by tough Russian cop Major Valentina Kolovska (Vernon), FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Poitier), and a slew of police in full riot gear. When the mobster actually tries to escape and is killed in the process, it's symbolic how this film will go about developing its story.
The Russian "Godfather" gets word of the incident and becomes so enraged he kills one of his own men (a la James Bond-villain/Darth Vader-style), and hires "The Jackal" (Willis), supposedly the world's best hitman, to assassinate a top American official as payback.
It's bad enough there are remarkably few details here, such as why the U.S. and Soviets are working together, or even how Kolovska got a distractingly ugly scar on her head, but what's really annoying is how serious the film presents itself. Like every other "high-tech" thriller, there's lots of technical jargon here to make it seem realistic, but the pacing is so quick I missed even the most general plot details. For example, I can't describe how the FBI learns of The Jackal and his plan because I didn't understand it myself.
>From this point on, the sense of Deja Vu really started to kick in. At first, the story works much like "The Saint," only from the opposite perspective, as we follow The Jackal from Europe to Canada and see how he fakes his IDs and constantly disguises himself (although how he smuggles in a huge artillery gun is conviently left out). Meanwhile, Preston and Kolovska team up and try to convince a convicted terrorist (a la "The Rock"), Declan Mulqueen (Gere), to help them find The Jackal. Do I really have to tell you how poorly explained this element is and how much blackmail is used as justification for the plot?
Most of the film shifts back and forth between The Jackal's clever assassination plan, and Preston, Kolovska, and Mulqueen's efforts to track him. It's a generic cat-and-mouse story which walks a fine line between realistic detective work (a la "The Fugitive"), and the same old governmental thriller stuff (a la "Patriot Games"). I was surprised by the attempt at detail made here, and some it was actually quite interesting.
Unfortunately, as is the case with most modern thrillers, once the film showed potential for authenticity and intelligence, the cliches and action sequences take over. First there's a pointless scene of The Jackal testing his gun's remote targeting system on the hillbilly who made it for him (played by the funny, but typecasted, Jack Black). Then there's a chase scene at a crowded regatta, the revelation of a leak within the FBI, and a sudden realization The Jackal will kill Mulqueen's long lost love (who of course plays an important role in the end).
The final act is unoriginal to say the least. Mulqueen realizes The Jackal isn't after the director of the FBI, but the First Lady. It's all downhill from there as the film uses the most worn out of cliches such as the last-second, life-saving-dive-in-slow-motion, and the man-against-man chase through subway tunnels and all the danger that could be involved in that situation. Not to mention the beyond predictable ending.
Note to Hollywood: if you insist on making movies like "The Jackal," which recycle and rip-off, at least do so with good movies.
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(C) 1997 Chad Polenz
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