The Jackal (1997)

The Jackal is the kind of sleek, high-stakes thriller that grabs you by the collar and doesn’t let go, built around the deliciously unnerving idea of an assassin so adaptable he can vanish in plain sight. Bruce Willis plays against type with icy precision, while Richard Gere brings a weary, sharp-edged humanity to the man forced into the hunt, and Sidney Poitier anchors the chaos with calm authority. Director Michael Caton-Jones keeps the vibe tense and procedural—globetrotting, clock-ticking, and full of near-misses—so even the quieter investigative moments feel like tightening screws. It is unabashedly a 90s action thriller, and it’s violent and hard-edged, but if you want a cat-and-mouse movie with real momentum and a villain you can’t stop watching, this one delivers.

The Jackal is clearly aiming for a sleek, globe-trotting cat-and-mouse thriller with a prestige cast and a “one unstoppable assassin” hook. The problem is it rarely earns its tension: the pacing lumbers, the plotting stretches credibility until it snaps, and the movie leans on disguises and contrivances instead of genuine suspense. Bruce Willis has a chilly, committed villain vibe and there are a few solid set pieces, but they’re spaced out by a lot of procedural wheel-spinning and soapier character beats. If you want a smart, tightly wound manhunt in the spirit of the classic it riffs on, you may be frustrated; if you’re fine with a glossy 90s action-thriller that coasts on stars and occasional bursts of violence, it’ll do the job.