The Assignment

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.

This movie really proves that the world is all too often an unfair place, especially the world of motion pictures. "The Assignment" received barely any attention upon it's release and not surprisingly flopped at the box-office, but when history will be written this movie will most surely receive some long lost praise.

Thank God I'm surrounded by friends who knows what's good for me. Being a movie buff like myself a pal highly recommended "The Assignment", a movie I hadn't even heard about. I decided to check out what Leonard Maltin gave it, and not surprisingly he gave it **1/2. Knowing that this is the same grade he gave classics like "Alien", "The Usual Suspects" and "The Matrix" (I kid you not) I knew his meaning didn't mean diddly squat jack s***. So without hesitating I went out and bought it on DVD. This was about 3 years ago and the movie is still one of my proudest belongings in my DVD collection, despite a cover design that echoes a low budget stinker with Casper Van Dien.

"The Assignment" is expertly directed, delivering some really intense moments that will hold you on the edge of your seat throughout the movie, on top of that it boasts an at times brilliant story that you know will be riddled with unexpected twists and turns. It stars Aidan Quinn in one of his best performances, and serves him with great support by Donald Sutherland and Ben Kingsley who are both in great form.

Something like 40 out of 42 user comments like this movie, most of them can't seem to praise it enough. So what are you waiting for? If you call yourself a fan of action-thrillers you should have bought it, rented it, seen it YESTERDAY!

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.

I must say I didn't expect much about this movie, but it turned out not to be bad at all. Most striking of course, was Aidan Quinn's performance. I would never expect to see this fine actor as an action hero. The great thing about it is that he really builds up his character (Annibal). I mean, it was not like Mel Gibson or Bruce Willis would do it, he was sensitive and modest. For example, he's really upset when he kills someone. I also noticed that some clichés were avoided. When Annibal gets his training, you would easily expect him to be a rebel and act like any average American would do in such a situation, ask what the f*** is going on and refusing to cooperate. But Annibal is a professional marine officer, he doesn't give up and he tries not to lose his courage, in which he succeeds pretty well, except for a brief break-down on Christmas Eve, which I think was very realistic. I'm glad that Aidan Quinn got this opportunity to show another side of him (in fact two, because he plays the villain as well), even although the film wasn't that successful.

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