Jack Shaw (Donald Sutherland) has experienced the terror first-hand. He's a top CIA agent who's tracked international killer-for-hire Carlos "The Jackal" Sanchez for over twenty years and barely survived Carlos' devastating bombing of a Parisian cafe. Now, he finally gets a break when he discovers Carlos' dead ringer: American naval officer and dedicated family man Annibal Ramirez (Aidan Quinn). With the aid of his Israeli Intelligence counterpart, Amos (Ben Kingsley), Jack trains Annibal to impersonate Carlos through a series of harrowing physical and psychological exercises and draw the real killer out of hiding and into an elaborate trap.