capsule : smart and compulsively watchable , if fanciful , thriller that employs the story of the jackal to good psychological effect . aidan quinn is worth admission . before the terrible bruce willis thriller the jackal hit theaters , a modestly-budgeted and far superior treatment of the same basic material came and went , with nary a whisper of promotion or even acclaim . too bad . the assignment is a far better movie -- not a classic , but it entertains and engrosses aptly -- which were two things the other movie couldn't do . the facts behind the story are now history : the jackal was the moniker used by a man named carlos , who apparently masterminded or at least spearheaded many of the most ( in ) famous terrorist actions in recent history . he , among others , ransomed the members of opec at gunpoint -- an incident which is recapped in the early minutes of this film . one of the cia men , henry fields ( donald sutherland ) , tries to get close enough to carlos to liquidate him with a " lead handshake " ( a gun in the sleeve ) , but his advisors collar him before he can pull it off . carlos vanishes with his captives . flash-forward . an american soldier , annibal ramirez ( aidan quinn ) , is yanked into custody by a mossad agent , amos ( ben kingsley ) . ramirez is a ringer for carlos ; there is some mountingly funny byplay when we realize that it's not carlos playing dumb , or even carlos playing the hotheaded american bit . this guy really is an american soldier , and he really is gonna sue amos into next wednesday when he gets home . fields introduces himself to annibal and ingratiates himself with him . they want carlos , and annibal is a great way for them to trap him . annibal wants nothing to do with any spy games , but after some unpleasant manipulation , they take him under their wing and begin remaking him into a ) a spy and b ) a psychological twin for carlos . they do a frighteningly good job . this is one of the best parts of the movie , where we see annibal's straight-arrow military persona being strip-mined and replaced with a grasping , selfish and amoral one -- all the better for him to pass for carlos . the movie has a smartness to it that i don't see much of in american thrillers -- more of a feel for the way spy games really are conducted , complete with double-crosses and screw-ups the way they probably do go down . maybe that has something to do with this being a canadian/french co-production , rather than a wholly american one , and it's reflected in the way the story plays out . we don't get an ending where everything is settled with the right guy getting shot , although we do get an extra , tacked-on epilogue that's a bit more gratuitous than we really needed . what is best here is the acting . here we have three actors doing a great job -- sutherland , quinn , and kingsley , all in a three-way psychic fencing match . one of them is trying to trap a monster ; one is trying to create one . and one is becoming more of one than he ever dreamed . it's neat to watch . -----== posted via deja news , the leader in internet discussion ==----- <a href= " http : //www . dejanews . com/ " >http : //www . dejanews . com/</a> now offering spam-free web-based newsreading 
