Hollywood WATCH

The Jackal: ErosWhen you try to remake a classic like Fred Zinnemann's The Day Of The Jackal you have to break new ground. Or take a new ang...

The Jackal: Eros

When you try to remake a classic like Fred Zinnemann8217;s The Day Of The Jackal you have to break new ground. Or take a new angle because it8217;s hard to beat the original. And so, director Michael Caton-Jones does precisely that in The Jackal. If the original film targeted French President Charles de Gaulle, this one zeroes in on the American First Lady.

So, let8217;s shift our eyes to the United States. You have FBI deputy director Carter Preston, played by veteran Sidney Poitier, a 8217;60s favourite, and the mysterious Jackal, today8217;s hottest action hero Bruce Willis. Pitted against the quot;master of disguisequot; is Richard Gere who plays Irish revolutionary Declan Mulqueen. He is given quot;time offquot; by the state from jail like Sean Connery in The Rock. His estranged wife Isabella Mathilda May provides emotional back-up to the film.

Add to this pot pourri, a Russian, Major Valentina Koslova Diane Venora battle-scarred and ruthless and your new dimension to the tale is in place. After thefall of the Soviet Union the old enemy sometimes becomes an ally. Before the film is five minutes old you know this is a professional job. Even though the pauses are different and the suspense added by way of build-up alternating between shock treatment and the gory. For instance, as the film gets to the quot;shooting climaxquot; the viewer would not be wrong in thinking that half the sophisticated new arms being shown are done purely to demonstrate the United States8217; military might.

But once the chase is on, and that comes halfway through the film, it gets that lovely staccato pace. The two big stars, Willis and Gere, do an excellent job adequately supported by veteran Poitier, who seems to have preserved himself rather well. Venora8217;s is a good cameo and the film is beautifully shot by Karl Walter Lindenlaub.

Endowed with a good mix of action and suspense, it has the viewer engrossed for most of the time. Of course, it8217;s hard to beat the original flick but Zinnemann8217;s The Jackal is not lagging far behind. Andthat, surely, is saying a lot.

ERVELL E MENEZES