23/12
The Jackal is an elusive assassin who makes a living by carrying out high-paying hits. He soon meets his partner in a tough British intelligence officer who tracks him down in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe. Check out our list of renewals and cancellations to see if your favorite show has made it. Forsyth worked as a freelance journalist covering the Biafran War. When that ended, he returned to Britain, unemployed and unsure of what to do next. He said: “I came back at Christmas ’69, completely emaciated. No chance of a job, no flat, no car and no savings. Then I got this crazy, crazy idea to write a novel. ‘Everyone said you had to be kidding or crazy because the chances of it even getting published were hundreds to one, even thousands.’ Within weeks of its release, the film rights were snapped up. Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars were in the running to play the Jackal in the 1973 film, but the role went to a then-unknown Edward Fox because director Fred Zinnemann thought he could walk invisibly through a crowd. (Airmail). Mentioned on The Graham Norton Show: Denzel Washington/Paul Mescal/Saoirse Ronan/Eddie Redmayne/Blossoms (2024). I certainly didn’t have Eddie Redmayne as the Jackal on my streaming bingo card this year, but here we go. It’s great to see a classic novel with such a lavish production, and it’s all played out really well, as far as I’m concerned. The locations look gorgeous, the action sequences so far have been gripping, and the performances are convincing. Like other reviewers, I’m not buying Lashana Lynch as the MI:6 agent and feel like she was miscast in the role. On the other hand, it’s always good to see Charles Dance flex his acting muscles. Úrsula Corberó is lovely to watch on screen, although I’m afraid she was a little underused. Otherwise a nice piece of old school cloak and dagger.