- Title: The Jackal
- IMDb: link
Sometimes movies just don’t quite work. Wayback Wednesday takes us back to a film that fits that category. 1997’s adaptation of The Day of the Jackal has a talented cast in Bruce Willis as the infamous assassin, Richard Gere as an IRA terrorist let out of prison to help hunt him down alongside Sidney Poitier and Diane Venora, and smaller roles from the likes of Mathilda May, J.K. Simmons, Jack Black all of which helped propel the film to box office success. But despite that talent on-screen, the story of hunting down the world’s greatest assassin just can’t hit the bullseye.
Given the time it takes, the set up is relatively simple with the Jackal (Willis) being hired by an Azerbaijani mafia boss (David Hayman) to commit a public assassination on U.S. soil. FBI Deputy Director Carter Preston (Poitier) and Russian Police Major Valentina Koslova (Venora) to release Declan Mulqueen (Gere) from prison to help find and neutralize the killer as he, and his old flame (May) are the only ones who can identify the Jackal.
Cast against type, Willis’ performance is more notable for the various disguises he wears while switching identities than any acting. I would be curious what the film might look like if Gere and Willis swapped roles allowing him to emote more in the Declan role and Gere, who seems more naturally fit for the stone-cold killer, to play the illusive killer. The rest of the performances are fine, popping in individual scenes, and the aspect of how the the Jackal sneaks himself and a gatling gun into the United States is interesting as the twist to his real target and the climactic battle in the subway following the failed attempt.
Despite the so-so results that show up on-screen, what makes The Jackal a bit of a curiosity is how so many of the pieces seem to work separately but don’t quite fit together into a polished finished project. It’s a fine film to have on in the background while doing housework or being otherwise engaged in something else, looking up at certain scenes, but it isn’t a movie likely to hold your attention for the full two-hours.
Director Michael Caton-Jones‘ resume also doesn’t appear to be an obvious source of blame with its share of misses but also hits such as Doc Hollywood, and screenwriter Chuck Pfarrer, despite being partly responsible for Barb Wire, also wrote Hard Target and Darkman. The Jackal certainly provides individual moments and scenes that work, along with plenty of talent, but is also clunky at times struggling to build the tension it needs for its final act. The film has been released several times over the years on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray as well as being available on a number of streaming services.
Watch the trailer
