There have been quite a few films made over the years about the real-life terrorist known only as Carlos "the Jackal". Some have been more true-to-life, drawing upon real (or believed to be genuine) events involving the infamous killer, while others have been complete works of fiction.
This falls into the latter category, which is not to say that it's a bad film, not by any means. In fact, this version of the Jackal is pretty good, working to bring the excitement back into films instead of trying for bigger and better explosions.
Playing out like two films which intertwine with eachother, one side deals with the Jackal setting up for his hit (the FBI director), while the other side has a peculear team-up of FBI, Russian Intellegence and an imprisoned Irish terrorist (who has a vendetta to settle with the Jackal)
The film, in my eyes, focusses too much on the Irishman's past, and his standard revenge wish against the Jackal spoils the more original elements of the story. With the exception of that, the film is a lot more suspense than action, working more in the mental arena than the physical. Richard Gere does a good job with his role, only his accent fades in and out a little too often. Bruce Willis does a great job playing the cold calculating villain of the film, an atypical role for him. His chameleon-like ability to change identities is also done well by Willis. Diane Venora does a wonderful job in her role as a tough-as-nails Russian agent, as does Sidney Poiter as the stern FBI deputy director.
A worthwhile watch, there is a better and more realistic Jackal tale on video in the Assignment , but it's also interesting to compare and contrast the two.