When a joint mission of the American FBI and the Russian MVD goes awry it leads to the death of an Azerbaijani mobster, in retaliation they hire a brutal assassin known as "The Jackal" (Bruce Willis) to do a hit for them. As the Jackal begins preparation for his mission using various disguises the FBI realise they don’t have much time left and find a man they think may be able to identify him. Declan Mulqueen (Richard Gere), a former IRA sniper who is now imprisoned. Declan agrees to help track down the Jackal if they can get him released from prison. Now it’s a desperate mission to find the Jackal before it’s too late and he carries out his assassination on whom the FBI believes to be FBI Director Donald Brown.