The Assignment (1997)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Christian Duguay

Writers (WGA):

Dan Gordon (written by) &
Sabi H. Shabtai (written by)

Release Date:

26 September 1997 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Thriller

Plot:

An American naval officer is recruited for an operation to eliminate his lookalike, the infamous terrorist Carlos The Jackal.

Plot Keywords:

Naval Officer | Terrorist | Rooftop Escape | Cuban American | London

Cast

Aidan Quinn	...	Lt. Cmdr. Annibal Ramirez / Carlos
Donald Sutherland	...	Jack Shaw / Henry Fields
Ben Kingsley	...	Amos
Claudia Ferri	...	Maura Ramirez
Céline Bonnier	...	Carla
Vlasta Vrana	...	KGB Head Officer
Liliana Komorowska	...	Agnieska
Von Flores	...	Koj
Al Waxman	...	Carl Mickens - CIA
Mitchell David Rothpan	...	Joey Ramirez
Gregory Hlady	...	KGB Aide
Gabriel Marian Oseciuc	...	KGB Agent
Frédéric Desager	...	KGB Agent
Kliment Denchev	...	KGB Technician
Yonathan Gordon	...	Yoni

Also Known As:

Jackal (USA) (working title)
Le mandat (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality and language.

Runtime:

Spain:111 min | USA:115 min | Canada:119 min (Ontario)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | UK:18 | South Korea:15 (video rating) (cut) | South Korea:18 (original rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:R | Iceland:16

Filming Locations:

Acre, Israel

Company:

Allegro Films

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: When the car flips over on the stair, you can see the stuntman wearing a helmet before the car explodes.

Quotes:

Jack Shaw: What did Darth Vader say to Luke Skywalker? Come over to the dark side. Come over, Annibal. You have no idea of the power we have.

Movie Connections:

References Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Soundtrack:

Swing Dixie

Slick, tidy, and well-made old school version of a great international thriller.

Slick, tidy, and well-made old school version of how a great international thriller should be made. Determined to nail a feared global terrorist who is known as "Carlos the Jackal", Jack Shaw (Donald Sutherland, "Without Limits", "Space Cowboys"), a CIA operative and his Israeli counterpart, Amos (Ben Kingsley, "Gandhi", "Sexy Beast") get a noble Naval officer, Annibal Ramirez (Aidan Quinn, "Music of the Heart"), to become Carlos and use him in a daring plot to get the KGB to kill the real Carlos, because he took an offer from the CIA. Sutherland and Kingsley are both good here, but the movie really belongs to Quinn here, who embodies himself here (in a dual role). Director Christian Duguay and cinematographer David Franco provide another great asset of the film here with Hitchcockian-like suspense and great sights of the world.