The Assignment

I found this movie to be quite enjoyable and fairly entertaining. Good characters,good actors and enough suspense to keep your interest throughout. The plot twists might have been a bit much but overall a decent thriller. If you liked this film I would recommend The Spanish Prisoner, The House of Games and No Way Out.

I don't usually like these kind of espionage movies due to their being dull and predictable. Well, I have changed my mind with this one. This was a real sleeper with a real intelligent story line that keeps you guessing and surprised throughout. Also the surround sound and the great camera work really adds to it. On a scale of 1-10, I would give it a 10 as I don't know how you could make a better film on this subject.

This is certainly a quality movie with a classy cast. As far as movies about Carlos the Jackal go, this one beats Bruce Willis' feeble efforts in 'The Jackal' to a bloody pulp, then spits on them. I am a bit surprised that this movie hasn't attracted more votes, something of a 'sleeper' obviously. A pity because this film is definitely worth a watch. It is clever and never dull. See it, 7/10

The Assignment is a solid thriller which is comparable with The Jackal in terms of story. However it is a much better film than it's big budget brother with better story and a more compelling sense of tension (and you don't have to put up with Richard Gere's wandering Irish accent).

Aidan Quinn is good in twin roles of Carlos and Ramirez, in particular portraying the way Ramirez changes during his training. Sutherland is as good as always - but in some scenes still has an element of hamminess about him, Kingsley is good but underused.

The story is more believable than The Jackal (if you can get past the fact that Carlos has an exact double!) with plot to get Carlos being more intelligence and espionage based than the gunplay solution of The Jackal. Indeed the story is what makes this film so interesting. There are only a few action scenes in the film but again are all tense, the scenes of terrorist attack are frightening but tend to linger of shots of extras with bad blood makeup (some horrors are more terrible if left to the viewers' imagination).

Overall, a tight little thriller that makes up in plot and acting what it lacks in star-power and budget.

Very late one night, I happened to click to some cable station that had a movie starting called "The Assignment". I had heard that it was a well made movie from my mother, but who listens to their mother's opinion about movies? Especially about some espionage thriller. Well --- who likes to admit when their mother is right...about anything? Well --- my mother was right. I was up all night, until 4 in the morning, alone, watching this movie, getting paranoid and sucked into its classically told story. The acting was superlative, the direction was on target - which could also be said for the aim of the actors (a lot of gun play), and best of all, it didn't telegraph where the plot was heading. It's a perfect set-up for a franchise, (sorry to sound like an executive at some lumbering movie studio) because I'd be completely interested to see the next adventures of these well rounded characters - and the actors that play them. To the film makers: Do more of these! To the movie watching audience: watch it! watch it with someone you love, as the old saying goes...not because it's romantic, but rather, it's a movie that you need to grab hold of someone during those extra exciting parts. No joke. (the sex scenes teach you a thing or too, as well. A movie that's entertaining, as well as informative! Hey! Now that's a novelty.)