The Jackal

Director Michael Caton-Jones has souped up the taut 1973 political thriller The Day of the Jackal '90s-style. There's a laptop-powered bazooka, huge explosions, gore galore, and a bad guy with a gift for one-liners. And the price tag for assassinating an international big wig today? It's zoomed from a measly half a mil to a Swiss-bank-account-busting $70 million.

Adopting the sobriquet of the wily assassin-for-hire, Bruce Willis contracts with Russian terrorists to rub out the director of the FBI. The dashing Sidney Poitier is the FBI agent stalking him, with the help of an IRA operative (Richard Gere, sounding like the Lucky Charms leprechaun) and a cool-as-vodka Russian intelligence officer (Diane Venora). But the star power, high-tech gadgetry, and breathless pacing can't entirely compensate for the film's patchy plot and uneven suspense. Plus, Willis can't rival the worldly flair of the original Jackal, Edward Fox, who intrigued simply by looking great in an ascot and an Alfa Romeo. At the Harbour Mall, Showcase, Starcase, Tri-Boro, and Woonsocket cinemas.

-- Alicia Potter