The Jackal - Collector's Edition

Bruce Willis, Richard Gere, Sidney Poitier. An FBI director works with a Russian agent and a jailed terrorist to hunt down the Jackal, a mysterious assassin on a deadly mission. 1997/color/125 min/R/widescreen.

The best way to enjoy this 1997 thriller is to forget the much better film that inspired it (1973's IThe Day of the Jackal/I) and get whatever kicks you can from this heavy-metal remake. It's not bad as hokey thrillers go, but all of the original film's suspenseful finesse has been traded in (not traded up) for bigger, bolder action and nonsensical plotting. It's as if Hollywood had forgotten to create excitement without resorting to overblown action and heavy hardware, but there's ample compensation in the casting of Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. Willis is the elusive assassin known only as the Jackal, whose latest target (he uses a cannon-sized gun that's anything but inconspicuous) may be the first lady of the United States. Gere plays a former IRA terrorist who is recruited by the deputy head of the FBI (Sidney Poitier) to trace the Jackal's maneuvers, and Diane Venora offers some gutsy support as a Russian-born agent who assists Gere on his mission. The movie has fun turning Willis into a master of disguise, and Gere adds much-needed gravity to counter the plot's escalating absurdity, but this is the kind of film that falls apart if you think about it too much. Still, that doesn't stop the Collector's Edition DVD from offering an impressive array of bonus features, including a director's commentary, a "making of IThe Jackal/I" documentary, deleted scenes, an alternative ending, cast interviews, and more. i--Jeff Shannon/i