Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A lot of fun.

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

(Originally reviewed: 05/03/2017) There I was thinking Mr Willis didn't have any more hidden pieces of trash lying about but here is The Jackal a film that would be formulaic if it had any style in its plotting. The film starts with atrocious dialogue, stereotypically personality free bad guys and a Russian antagonist asking one of his friends if he managed to kill any militia cops in the event of his brother's death and when he says none he apparently must die and gets an axe in the back of his head. It's the code says this villain, but others might say well we think it's stupid and over the top and you would be correct on both counts as I found that whole scene an insulting to audience members who like a better reason for how events turn out; but luckily that Russian simply hires Willis's character a few minutes later, now his name is unknown as he is in and out of identities and a master of disguise so he's nicknamed The Jackal. I 'll admit Bruce Willis play's this character effectively; playing a harsh but menacing villain, if only he had some form of a competent story to help him; but to no avail.Richard Gere play's the imprisoned Irish protagonist 'Declan Mulqueen' and though at first I was unsure if he was going to go in and out of accents; he really did give a solid performance and he's likable; has a good Irish accent and has a vendetta against The Jackal for a reason I will not disclose but he and Willis do have a couple of good scenes together; and the performances by the rest of the cast, especially Diane Venora as a major militia officer are decent with the exception of a weapon and so called info dealer played by Jack Black who is plain and simple a pig and an annoying hippy who belches, rambles on and brings nothing to the film except another reason to dislike it. Also featuring are a cringeworthy, unnecessary gay bar sequence and a completely separate, cruel, distasteful scene involving a character being used as target practice to test a weapon and the way its shown is completely sick and twisted; and whether you like the character or not, there's no need for such a sinister sequence.The outcomes of the plot are as inept as the plot; instead of explain anything it just hopes the audience will find it believable but anyone willing to ask questions may be extremely frustrated like myself, as I kept wondering how could The Jackal operate a Gatling gun/multi tuned weapon while being a huge distance away from it, we know it's operated by a button and yet that button is obviously shown on the weapon and it can go off from a distance with no explanation on how, as I didn't see Willi's character with a detonator or a switch so it's clear the picture is beyond absurd and it even tries to twist it's alleged plot several time's thinking it's clever but in truth it's merely stupid and so bad I couldn't even merit a laugh.Then of course a lot of people are killed like usual in these type of films, usually FBI agents or Russians cops for nothing more than a pointless body count; and whichever way you look at it; the action is forgettable and poorly directed. I was simply unimpressed with it; and especially Michael Caton-Jones's direction; which is equally as bad as Kenneth Ross and Chuck Pfarrer's screenplay which is truly awful at times; and most noticeably in the final act which defies sense and reason where Declan's wife played by Mathilda May manages to come out of nowhere at a shootout in a train station and fire off a shot; two questions 1) how did she manage to get there so fast and 2) how on earth did she know exactly where to find them. The picture is filled with pure idiocy, void of sense, trashy and an utter mess; it may not be the worst film Willis has ever done but it sure is among them.

Greetings from Lithuania."The Jackal" (1997) is a guilty pleasure written all over it. I do like this flick. Many disliked it, and reasons are obvious, but as a guilty pleasure i think this movie delivers - and nothing more. Acting was pretty good by Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier and Diane Venora but not so much by Bruce Willis - this was probably his weakest performance in 90's - the decade when Bruce Willis ruled. The movie itself is pretty poorly written, and kinda averagely directed yet the pacing is pretty good, and the ending was not bad at all. And still considering that this movie is just OK, i'm still giving this movie the highest possible rating it can get - 8/10, because it delivers. A 2 hours turn of your brains thriller which takes itself too serious and looks serious but isn't serious is a good guilty pleasure - you know its cheese but you still watch it. You are rolling your eyes during some scenes, but still can take them of the screen for a long time - this is what "The Jackal" is.

First things first, I didn't watch The Day of the Jackal (1973). I just picked this movie out of the blue, liked its summary and went for it. And to be fair, it's quite good.I like action movies like this. Straightforward. They just cut to the point. No, this doesn't mean this movie is all about action. I think the storyline was good: they provide you with enough information, nothing more, nothing less.Of course it can be a little "over the top", but people need to remind this is fantasy; it's just a movie. So you can't take fantasy here, but shiny little vampires are OK? C'mon..! Also, to be fair, I think the movie is pretty believable!I saw people complaining, comparing this movie to Day of the Jackal. Well, like I said, I didn't watch it, but this movie is only based on Day of the Jackal, as if they just took the idea. I'm OK with that.

This movie needs some patience to watch along. The screenplay was not quite well written, it's too loose and too slow and too traditionally directed, edited with bad casting job. The Special Agent on this case was too old and not quite necessary with a role in this movie. The cooperation between the Russian and the American were a bit ridiculous and unconvincing, the sound track, the music came along with the whole movie was so bad and so out of place. The so-called "Jackal" played by Bruce Willis was too pretentious and too cliché. Casting a scar-faced Russian Military Intelligence officer was also unnecessary. But the major problem was the lame role of the FBI Special Agent in Charge, Sydney Pottier was too old not to be forced into retirement maybe 10 years late. The whole movie spent a lot of money on locations, but the lame dialog simply failed to comply with the lame screenplay. The most ridiculous thing was the never stop changing hair style and the colors as though the only thing the Jackal good at was changing his hair colors and style. Arranged a IRA terrorist imprisoned in the U.S. territory was also a very lame scenario, Richard Gere in this movie was just like a lame office boy who's so smart that every time he could just cut in during FBI meetings to point out something nobody thought about, the smartest kid in the classroom. This is a very stupid and lame movie.