The usually reliable director Michael Caton-Jones hasn't a clue how to freshen up such stale material. If you bite your fingernails, it will only be from boredom.

The international pursuit grows borderline monotonous but there is a jump in pacing during the Washington, D.C., climax.

The Jackal is a glum, curiously flat thriller about a man who goes to a great deal of trouble in order to create a crime that anyone in the audience could commit more quickly and efficiently.

Sidney Poitier is the FBI deputy director and the only one in the cast to lend this movie credibility.