The Jackal
Universal Pictures | Release Date: November 14, 1997 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
36
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 20 Critic Reviews
Positive:
1
Mixed:
11
Negative:
8
Watch Now
Stream On
Buy on
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Stream On
Expand

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
90
VarietyTodd McCarthy
With its strong premise, a couple of fine performances and highly polished tooling, The Jackal scores as an involving high-tech thriller that occasionally hits peaks of pulsating excitement. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Plotted densely enough to make the lulls forgivable, this movie concerns a contract killer (Bruce Willis) who employs several small-business owners to craft his super-high-tech weapons and the many accessories that enable him to assume multiple identities. Read full review
60
EmpireKim Newman
It's a good job this works so well as a machine-made movie, because its grasp of political realities is nebulous. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Actually, the more distance the studio places between the two films, the better, because the 1997 production can't hold a candle to the 1973 release, and an attempted comparison only makes the new Bruce Willis/Richard Gere vehicle look worse. Read full review
50
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The Jackal, like most expensive thrillers nowadays, knows how to do gadgets, pyrotechnics, underground subway chases and panicked crowd scenes. But except for Mr. Gere's uphill battle, it has only the vaguest idea of how to do people. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
Amusing performances -- especially from Willis, who takes on a new personality with each new hairstyle -- can't disguise the fact that the film is basically a pastiche of recent movies. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverPeter Rainer
The Jackal isn't much--it certainly isn't up to the 1973 Fred Zinnemann Day of the Jackal it loosely adapts and updates--but it does offer the fascination of watching big-ticket actors attempt to spin their images. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
A trashy, frenetic remake of Fred Zinnemann's 1973 The Day of the Jackal, The Jackal is mired in blood, cheap shocks, and a random network of improbability. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
Though consistently handsome, the film never quite achieves the shallow but hugely seductive intensity of its MTV-style opening credits sequence. Read full review
50
Washington PostDesson Thomson
To enjoy it, however, you have to do the mental equivalent of squinting your eyes, so the credibility is only fuzzily ridiculous. Read full review
40
The A.V. ClubMaria Schneider
At best, The Jackal is an uninspired, by-the-numbers action thriller. Read full review
40
Washington PostStephen Hunter
The Jackal is based on a fabrication so absurd that it almost made me laugh out loud. Read full review
38
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The Jackal, on the other hand, impressed me with its absurdity. There was scarcely a second I could take seriously. Read full review
30
Film ThreatRon Wells
Not since "Peacemaker" have we witnessed such a battle of wits. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Sporadically effective, it appears not to have particularly excited the people who made it, and that lackadaisical quality is a drawback. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
This remake of Fred Zinnemann's well-regarded Day of the Jackal (1973) not only fails to match the modest entertainment value of Frederick Forsyth's workmanlike source novel, but actually moves into late contention for the title of 1997's most tedious movie. Read full review
30
SlateDavid Edelstein
Michael Caton-Jones' pompous and coarsely stupid inflation of what remains a superior thriller, Fred Zinnemann's The Day of the Jackal (1973). Read full review
25
San Francisco ExaminerBarbara Shulgasser
What keeps coming to mind throughout The Jackal is that for what it cost to make this movie you could probably pay some nice hit man to eliminate everyone at Universal who thought making the movie would be a good idea, and still have enough left over to throw one of those hit man parties and have a really great time. Read full review
10
NewsweekDavid Ansen
The usually reliable director Michael Caton-Jones hasn't a clue how to freshen up such stale material. Read full review
0
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Scottish director Michael Caton-Jones continues to fritter away the last traces of his talent with this ugly variant on Fred Zinnemann's 1973 original, The Day of the Jackal. Read full review
More From This Movie

36 Critic Reviews

6.6 User Reviews

Details & Credits|Trailers

Current Movie Releases
By MetascoreBy User Score
1 81 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
2 77 Project Hail Mary
3 75 Send Help
4 73 Hoppers
5 72 The Sheep Detectives
SEE ALL
Essential Links
New on Amazon Prime Video
New on Netflix
Coming Soon to DVD/Blu-ray
SEE ALL