When is a remake not a remake? When the only thing in common is the title. The Day of the Jackal, from 1973, was a great movie, unfortunately the 1997 version is not. The movie starts in Russia, with FBI agent Cater Preston (Sidney Poitier) involved in a stakeout at a nightclub. When the bad guys show up Preston and his Russian comrades storm the place and end up killing the criminals. The Russian mob hears of the killings and hires a hitman who goes by the name Jackal (Bruce Willis), supposedly to assassinate the director of the FBI. Word of the plot reaches the FBI and since no one has any evidence the Jackal even exists they are forced to turn to Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), an IRA sharpshooter currently serving a life sentence. The cat and mouse games begin as the Jackal progresses towards his target, killing anyone who gets in the way. As said before this is not a good movie, to compare it to the original is pointless. What was the FBI doing in Russia, shouldn't that have been a CIA job? Why was Gere's character Irish, it adds nothing to the story and he has real problems with the accent. Apparently Mulqueen is a psychic, that's the only explanation for the conclusions he arrives at about Jackal's plans. The plot trudges along to the ending you can predict in the first 20 minutes, for the most part. The action sequences are average at best and there are no comical moments to speak of. Your money would be better spent on renting the original or better still buy the book.
