39/46
The Jackal is an elusive assassin who makes a living performing hits for the highest pay. He soon meets his match in the form of a tough British intelligence officer who pursues him in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe. Check out our list of renewals and cancellations to see if your favorite show made it big. Forsyth worked as a freelance journalist covering the Biafran War. When it finished, he returned to Britain, unemployed and unsure of what to do next. He says: “I came back at Christmas ’69 completely exhausted. I had no job prospects, no flat, no car, no savings. So I had this crazy idea to write a novel. “Everyone said you must be joking or mad because the odds of me publishing this are hundreds to one, even thousands.” Within weeks of publication, the film rights were revoked. Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars were in the running for the role of the Jackal in the 1973 film, but the role went to then-unknown Edward Fox because director Fred Zinnemann thought he could blend in with the crowd. (Airmail) Credits The Graham Norton Show: Denzel Washington/Paul Mezcal/Cyrus Ronan/Eddie Redmayne/Blossom (2024) I have to agree with many other critics, this is a great production with a good atmosphere and Eddie Redmayne does a great job as the Jackal, but the female lead ruins it. It’s a complete failure, using an actor who can’t show any facial expression regardless of the situation and almost borders on overacting, perhaps trying to compensate for a lack of understanding or appreciation of the character. Obviously, the character was created to be confident and experienced, but the portrayal is of an arrogant, “I know best” woman who, for example, doesn’t appreciate the evidence that she walks around the office with a suitcase. She’s so annoying and awesome.