The Assignment (1997)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Really Surprised!

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

It's 1974 Paris. Terrorist Carlos the Jackal (Aidan Quinn) blows up a cafe and CIA agent Jack Shaw (Donald Sutherland) barely survives. After Carlos attacks OPEC, Shaw recognizes Carlos as he makes his exit. In 1986, Israeli agent Amos (Ben Kingsley) captures Carlos in Jerusalem but it turns out to be American Naval Lt. Cmdr. Annibal Ramirez (Aidan Quinn). Shaw sees potential in using the doppelganger to trick the KGB who is supporting the real Carlos.This is part spy thriller, part action, part character study, and partly interesting. The movie starts with an extraordinary hand grenade. It blows up real good and really unrealistic. After that, the movie improves with believeability until Ramirez goes to confront Carlos. That scene makes no sense. There's no point in it. They should leave it to the KGB. The stupidity of that move leaves the movie wanting. This could be a great spy thriller but a couple of problems keep it down.

Aidan Quinn stars with Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley in "The Assignment," a 1997 film directed by Christian Duguay. This film did not seem to be in theaters for very long, or to make any money. I suspect after a few days in the theater it went right to video.Quinn plays Lt. Cmdr. Annibal Ramirez, who is arrested and held by Mossad, who believe he is the assassin/terrorist Carlos the Jackal. Once his identification has been verified, he is allowed to leave. He is then visited by Jack Shaw (Donald Sutherland) who wants him to impersonate Carlos in order to convince the Russians that Carlos has come over to the CIA in exchange for money and a sweet deal, so that they will kill the real Carlos. It involves months of training, and finally, Annibal is ready. There are a few things he and his trainers hadn't counted on...one is that as time goes by, Annibal finds it harder and harder to escape Carlos' identity and reclaim himself.Really good movie, very suspenseful and exciting, with a wonderful performance by Aidan Quinn as both Carlos and Annibal. The movie really keeps you on the edge of your seat, especially the last scenes. Some excellent effects, locations, and car chases.Quinn I seem to remember came to fame in a film about AIDS, "An Early Frost," and I also recall that Tina Sinatra was blown away by his bone structure and wanted him to play her dad in "Sinatra" The Music Was Just the Beginning." Movie stardom never really hit him, but he has had a prolific career playing a variety of roles, and is now a regular on "Elementary." In "The Assignment," he again reminds us of his excellence and versatility as an actor. Donald Sutherland does a great job as Annibal's handler, Shaw, who wants Carlos not only for the CIA's reasons but also because in France, Carlos slipped by him at a restaurant and bombed it.Ben Kingsley, another fantastic actor, hands in his usual well thought-out performance as a Mossad agent. The man who played Gandhi so magnificently I find is often in roles that are really beneath his abilities, which is a shame, though he certainly manages to keep busy. And there are some brilliant roles in there too.Highly recommended, a thrilling movie.

How do you catch Carlos the Jackal? A Naval officer, CIA agent and a Mossad agent all work together to find out. See "Day of the Jackal" and "The Jackal" for alternative artistic impressions of the notorious terrorist, but see "The Assignment" for the best all around movie by far! The film is perhaps most notable for its harsh and honest look at the physical and mental training as well as personal sacrifices a spy must undertake in order to become "superhuman." Look out for the scene near Israel's Dead Sea where the hero undergoes special training... fantastic to see these exercises displayed in a film starring 3 great actors (in 4 roles) who compliment each other without overshadowing each other, maybe one of the best spy films of the 1990s!

This movie undoubtedly is a copy of Don, BOllywood flick starring Amitabh Bachhan released in 1978.Apart from that it is a great movie, in fact far better than the Bollywood version. Aidal Quinn might not have matched Mr. Bachhans performance but the movie is better paced. From the Box Office point of view, I think that this movie was tailor made for Tom Cruise. With such a a good story it would have rocked the box office.Know what guys Bollywood in fact this year has remade the earlier version by the same title, DON and it is better and stylish than the both the English and the Hindi versions that came before it.