Jackals (1986)

Wonderful Movie

Pretty Good

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Simon and Simon find themselves on opposite sides of the fence in this one. And dare I say it's easily the best performances by both Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney I have seen on film. Grimier and kinkier than you might expect. With some nice squib action and some truly adept fight scenes. Watch out for a cool laser pointed rifle thing too. Wilford Brimley is his normal awesome self. And some guy named Jack Lucarelli( a friend of the Simons me thinks) also stars. This one has really stuck with me over the years. Always creeping back into my world. Would love to see a nice version someday. I have it as American Justice on a Lightning Video VHS. Can't recommend it enough.

Joe Case (Lucarelli) is a man from California who comes to visit a small Arizona border community. As an out-of-towner, he witnesses violence, corruption and murder at the hands of the local cops and sheriff. The main antagonist is Jake Wheeler (McRaney), a belligerent racist who has no problem dealing with the Mexican border-crossers...one way or another. Sheriff Mitchell (Brimley) also has an uneasy relationship with Wheeler, a loose cannon. Joe teams up with Dave Buchanon (Parker), one of the good cops, in an attempt to right the situation and bring Jake to justice. But will it be American JUSTICE? Plenty of movies in the 80's dealt with the subject of the U.S./Mexico border - even on this site alone we have Border Cop (1979), Border Heat (1990) (AKA Deadly Stranger) and now American Justice. THIS particular border movie isn't really an action movie per se, it's more of a downbeat, serious drama with some violence/thriller elements. The movie's attempt at seriousness isn't a bad thing at all, but the storyline is simplistic, and not a lot happens around it. The movie is almost airy, if that makes any sense. The odd, slow pace isn't conducive to anything cohesive that will stick in your mind, and the movie becomes forgettable.Except for a few violent bits, it feels like a TV movie, which isn't surprising, as that's the medium director Gary Grillo spent most of his career in. Add to that the presences of McRaney and Parker, known for the show Simon and Simon. Of course, McRaney is also known as "TV's Major Dad" as well. McRaney is well cast here and acquits himself well, and Wilford Brimley is a bright spot, adding what meat he possibly can to his small role, but there should have been MORE. More plot, more character development, more action, more suspense, more twists, more SOMETHING.While the VHS in the U.S. was released on one of our favorite labels, Lightning, the tagline used, "Justice from the barrel of a gun", is sadly not lived up to. It makes you think a bigger, grander movie is forthcoming. Additionally, the box states the running time at 79 minutes, but it's really 92. Why they did this is unknown. Did they think video store patrons might rent it because it's not a big drain on their time? If so, it may have backfired, as people want to get as much for their money as they can, and they may have thought a meager 79 minutes is not worth the investment of a video rental. These are the things that keep you up at night. Or at least us.While not a BAD movie by any means, American Justice isn't a great one either. File this one under "missed opportunity".for more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Warning! This contains spoilers!!! During the late 70's and early 80's, illegal immigration from Mexico was a hot topic/hot-button political issue, and films were made to cash-in on the subject. This independent film, American JUSTICE, originally known as JACKALS (a term for people who guide the illegals across the border), was one of those films.And it is just as good. If not better than any other that has addressed this particular topic.The story involves Ex-cop Joseph Case, (Jack Lucarelli)who comes to an unnamed Arizona border town (actually filmed in Nogales, Arizona) to visit his ex-partner David Buchanon (Jameson Parker), a U.S. Border Patrol cop, and his wife Jess (Jeannie Wilson). While riding a horse alone in the desert, Joseph watches as crooked U.S. Border Patrol cop Jake Wheeler (Gerald McRaney) shoots and kills a female wetback as she tries to escape after Jake has sexually assaulted her. Joseph and Dave go to headquarters to report the killing to Sheriff Lawrence Mitchell (Wilford Brimley), but Jake is in the room (and it's at this time that Joe realizes that Jake is a cop). Joe tells Dave that Jake is the killer and when they go to the scene of the crime, the body is missing (Jake had one of his cronies rebury the body in another location). With no victim to be found, it's Joe's word against Jake's and even Dave has a hard time believing it. Just to be sure, Dave has his friend Warner (Warner Glenn), an expert tracker, go over the crime scene again. He finds a trail to follow and they find the girl buried in a new grave. Warner tracks the guy that reburied her and Dave arrests him, but Jake kills him with automatic sniper fire to keep him from talking. Sheriff Mitchell begins to suspect Jake when his alibi for the girl's murder doesn't pan out, but he can't do anything without more proof (among other reasons to be disclosed later). Joe and Dave cross the border to get proof of Jake's illegal women-selling business, where we learn that Sheriff Mitchell was Jake's business partner. When Jake threatens Jess' life and then kills Dave (in a scene that's shocking, surprising, and pretty hard to watch), a wounded Joe must find a way to bring Jake down. Joe travels down to Mexico on a tip from a remorseful Sheriff Mitchell to get revenge the old-fashioned way, using the same shotgun to kill Jake that Jake used to kill Dave. It takes three blasts to kill Jake, but Joe seem to relish every pull of the trigger.This is a pretty decent low-budget action flick/sleeper hit that got some minor notoriety when it was made because both Jameson Parker and Gerald McRaney were starring at the time(and as brothers, no less)on the successful comedy detective TV series SIMON & SIMON (1981 - 1988). Made during the summer hiatus in 1985, this film must have come as a shock to fans of the series, especially Buchannon's(Parker)death at the hands of Wheeler(McRaney). Gerald McRaney, at the time, wasn't really known for playing bad guys. Even though Wilford Brimley gets top billing, he has very little to do here besides looking concerned, remorseful, and trying to atone for his past sins in the end.The script, by Dennis A. Pratt (who also plays the role of Connie, one of Jake's men), concentrates on Gerald McRaney's and Jack Lucarelli's characters, making this a study in contrasts. The gauntlet in the apartment building that Jameson Parker and Lucarelli (who are both the Producers on this) have to shoot their way through, resulting in Parker's death at McRaney's hands, is expertly filmed and a nail-biter.Director Gary Grillo (in his only movie directorial credit, did direct an episode of SIMON and SIMON and was Assistant Director on many films) keeps things moving at a brisk pace and films nearly every scene with an over-abundance of a dusty, modern day western atmosphere. Basically, it makes you want a cold drink just by watching it. Something the late Sam Peckinpah would have been proud of.I enjoyed this film, thanks to McRaney's villainous performance and some well-staged gunfights and death scenes. Also starring are Rick Hurst(of The Dukes Of Hazzard)and Rosanna DeSoto.

Jackals recently popped up on Flix in a nice letterboxed print, titled American Justice. It could easily have been another bang bang shoot 'em up action film but clearly has higher aspirations, and does a good job of reaching for them, if not reaching them consistently. It's the only feature film for veteran TV director Gary Grillo, and features a literate and intelligent script by Dennis Pratt, who later wrote the slightly less noteworthy Leprechaun 4: In Space. The story revolves around Dave (Jameson Parker, a bit of a one-note Johnny), a curly haired Californian who witnesses the murder of a young Mexican woman whilst on his summer hols in Arizona. Unfortunately, the killer turns out to be hyper-macho Officer Jake (Gerald McRaney, anticipating his Major Dad persona), a local lawman whose affable boss (Wilford Brimley, less annoying than usual) doesn't want to face the truth. Though there's action aplenty, the film never forgets that it's telling a tale of small town corruption, and there are even a few surprises that move it further away from the generic action movie template. All in all, a pleasant if minor surprise.