THE JACKAL |
| Here's a good idea for a new film: There are a string of bomb attacks in the USA killing a couple of innocent people. The only clue is the code name of the operative, the Lynx. This bomber has so far outwitted the FBI and so in desperation they go to the prison where the Oklahoma bomber is being held awaiting execution. The FBI releases him on the condition that he helps track down the Lynx. This he duly does and on the way we lean that, really, this newly released deranged killer of 168 innocent people is a nice guy. So the Oklahoma bomber helps the impotent FBI agents to catch the nasty evil Lynx whose reign of terror has killed at least two people. Now make the Lynx an international assassin. The prisoner asked to help out can be some Americanised IRA killer and you have the basics of an insulting concept on a truly international scale. You also have the basic plot premise of ‘The Jackal". Richard Gere plays the philosophical and somewhat softly spoken IRA terrorist. Softly spoken is perhaps a little vague when describing his accent. What I really mean is that it is the best Welsh/Irish/French/American comedy accent ever to grace the silver screen. To cap it all, despite being a terrorist, he seems to refer to himself as a ‘soldier’ and uses phrases along the lines of ‘I just want to go home after the war’. It is easy to get a little insulted by the childish and overly-sympathetic way the US film industry treats the IRA. Not because I believe one thing or another about the problems in Northern Ireland, but because the romanticised view seems to be a million miles from the real thing. The oh-so-nice ‘kiss-the-blarney-stone Danny boy’ Richard Gere-type IRA terrorist come 'freedom fighter' seems to contradict the reality of bombs planted outside Macdonald's on a busy shopping day. After watching the film I was almost thinking that the moral of the story was that there are ‘bad’ terrorists and ‘good’ terrorists, with the latter all having crap Irish accents. I can only pray that the US cinema-going audience does not share this naive view. Anyway, the review: Okay film, but drags its heels in places. Bruce is excellent. Sidney chews cud and is a top dude. I would have liked more of the Russian woman (Diane Venora) she acts the pants off everybody there. The pouty ‘ETA’ lady was naff. Her accent sounded more Irish than Dick's, which was strange, as she was a supposed Spaniard. Silly ending, silly silly silly. And don’t think too hard about the plot holes else they will haunt your dreams forever – a bit like the scene where Bruce picks up a guy in a gay club. If Dick’s oh-so-nice IRA man was removed to leave just Sidney and the Russian chick to kick ass on their own this would have been a much better film. But when it boils down to it, it’s worth seeing for Bruce and his big gun. What a whopper. |