This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Throughout the world the unmistakable imprint of the American C.I.A. can be found in many a muddled mess they have left behind. In the beginning, their objectives were simple: spy, remove enemy agents, steal classified information and destabilize unfavorable governments. Years have elapse and although their mission remains similar, their clandestine black operations now include domestic spying, discrediting U.S. citizens and infiltrating American organizations who criticize the U.S. government. This movie however, centers on the C.I.A.'s world manhunt for the infamous 'Carlos, the Jackel.' The film is called " The Assignment " and tells the story Lt. Cmdr. Annibal Ramirez, (Aidan Quinn) a U.S. naval officer who bears a striking resemblance to the mastermind of so many terrorist bombings. Recruited by Jack Shaw (Donald Sutherland) of the C.I.A. and Amos (Ben Kingsley), a special agent from the Israeli Mosad, Ramirez is secretly trained to look, pose, infiltrate the elusive organization and to thereafter discredit the real Jackel working for the Russians. This film is Explosively exciting, and packed with wild chases, killings and inter-country mayhem. Quinn is wonderful and surprisingly artistic playing both sides of the war. Easily one of his best efforts. ****

A rather good action thriller, but I would have preferred if it was a little more realistic. They tried in some places to go for it, but not all the way (probably for commercial reasons). It's a pity really, since this is a well made movie, but one that had the potential to be much more. If they had made it more realistic, and by that I mean with less James Bond-like shoot-outs, less beautiful women, less funny communists, etc... this motion picture could have been excellent. They just had to use more of the truth and they would have made something much better. The screenplay does cunningly use small parts of the truth in constructing the fiction that this film really is, but this is not nearly enough. I do not believe that they should have made a documentary, but a little less 'artistic creativity' would have actually been 'more' in this case.In other, the camera and sound are also not exceptional which further detracts from the viewing pleasure. All in all, an above average movie, but nothing more.

A naval officer is recruited to impersonate an infamous terrorist for whom he is a dead ringer. The film is well-paced and has plenty of action, but the plot is clichéd (as are the characters) and somewhat convoluted (including an ambiguous ending) - not to mention far-fetched. It is well acted by Quinn in the dual role of hero and terrorist, Sutherland as a CIA agent, and Kingsley as an Israeli terrorism expert. It is hard to take any of it seriously, particularly the central premise of two unrelated men looking and sounding exactly alike (they even have the same haircut!). It plays like a TV movie, perhaps not surprising, given director Duguay's background.

If you liked the Richard Chamberlain version of the Bourne Identity then you will like this too...Aiden Quinn does this one brilliantly, you can't help but wonder if he is really out there...I reckon he and the other main cast members probably had nightmares for weeks after doing this movie as it's so intense. When I first saw it I was just flicking channels on the remote late one evening..& I got hooked within minutes. look up www.answers.com for Ilich Ramírez Sánchez who is the character that "carlos the Jackal" is based on for both... I remember reading about Ilich Ramírez Sánchez's arrest in the paper in 1997. It was front page for weeks, through the trial after his arrest.