In the mid-'90s, some Universal Studios wiseacre decided to remake The Day of the Jackal (1973). Then Jackal's creators, novelist Frederick Forsyth and director Fred Zinnemann, preemptively disowned the film. Maybe that's why The Jackal (1997) is so terrible. Director Michael Caton-Jones's update is so monstrously bad it feels like a deliberate middle finger to Forsyth and Zinnemann.In Moscow, an FBI-MVD task force kills the brother of Russian Mafia chief Murad (David Hayman). Desiring revenge, Murad hires the Jackal (Bruce Willis), a hitman with KGB ties and limitless resources, to murder America's First Lady. FBI Assistant Director Preston (Sidney Poitier) and MVD Major Koslova (Diane Venora) are stumped by the Jackal, a man seemingly without a name or past. In desperation, they approach convicted IRA man Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), who's worked with the Jackal. These three heroes try catching the crafty assassin as he inches towards his target.
Jackal's supposedly based on Kenneth Ross's screenplay for The Day of the Jackal. Indeed it seems like Caton-Jones and writer Chuck Pfarrer consulted a checklist, repeating scenes verbatim. Hence the courier's kidnapping and torture, the Jackal seducing a gay man (Stephen Spinella) and spray-painting a van in the buff. Even the dialog echoes Day, though having a greasy-haired Jack Black strong-arm the Jackal between beer belches dilutes its effect.These lifts range from harmless to insulting. The worst comes late in Jackal. At a briefing, Preston reveals a mole through a wiretap recording, then admits he tapped everyone present. In Day it's a great moment: the mole's well-established, while Commissioner Lebel shows up the condescending French officials. Here the scene lacks set-up: the traitor's only mentioned in a throwaway line half-an-hour earlier. Preston solves a problem we didn't know about, diffusing tensions that didn't exist.
Then again, Jackal's changes don't work either. Rather than match Jackal with the implacable Lebel, Caton-Jones makes a convicted IRA terrorist his hero. The virtuous IRA terrorist, mind you, who "only" killed British soldiers and pines over his lost love (Mathilda May). Naturally Mulqueen's got a beef with the Jackal, which in Jackal's world counts for more than logic. Soon he's running the investigation, leaving cops Preston and Koslova holding the bag. The Jackal hinges on its protagonist being the best at his work: efficient, emotionless, resourceful. Edward Fox achieved this with menacing, underplayed arrogance. Bruce Willis plays the Jackal as a flamboyant psychopath. He changes costumes a dozen times, from obese Canadian to long-haired hippie to swishy homosexual. Boldly eschewing discretion, Willis commits pointless murders, leaves incriminating evidence, taunts his pursuers and starts public shootouts. By film's end he's taking little girls hostage and giggling like a dime-store Dennis Hopper. Ladies and gentlemen, the world's greatest assassin.
Nothing better illustrates Jackal's stupidity than Willis's weapon. The original Jackal used a custom-made rifle concealed in a car suspension. This Jackal uses a remote controlled automatic cannon shooting depleted uranium shells. Never mind the logistics of transporting this behemoth across international borders or the stupidity of bloodily slaughtering your supplier. Once in place, it requires no skill. A trained monkey could make that shot, certainly without the Jackal's sub-mental cock-ups. Back in Helsinki, Murad is demanding his money back.
Of the cast, Willis is an abomination and Richard Gere an embarrassment: he's as Irish as a Lucky Charms box. Sidney Poitier does a game Danny Glover impression, motivated more by payday than the script. Only Diane Venora comes off well, making Koslova a tough, brainy cop deserving a much better movie. Jack Black and J.K. Simmons have conspicuous "before they were famous" bit parts, each munching Jackal bullets.
Is it fair to so ruthlessly compare The Jackal to its predecessor? Hell yes. A remake demands the comparison. The Day of the Jackal required a few logical leaps (ten second death by strangulation, say) but overcomes it through attention to detail, restrained style and intricate plotting. The Jackal insults not only the original, but Mankind.
