For this writer, 1973’s The Day of the Jackal ranks among the greatest thrillers ever made, one of those rare films that’s structurally perfect and leaves zero room for improvement. But I like to remain open minded, and conceptually, the basic premise of the film is certainly conducive to other interpretations without necessarily drawing unfair comparisons. I enjoyed 1998’s The Jackal, the one with Bruce Willis and Richard Gere, on its own terms. While some scenes alluded to the original, there were enough narrative and character changes that it was more of a reimagining than a remake.
But a television series? While trying once again to remain open minded, I couldn’t imagine any episodic adaptation of the original movie or Frederick Forsyth’s novel without significantly padding things out or completely rethinking the basic narrative structure. And sure enough, the ten episodes of Season One (with a second one on the way), stretch themselves pretty thin at times. However, certain aspects of the show are excellent.
In this one, the notorious assassin known as The Jackal (Eddie Redmayne) is hired by an organization to kill hotshot tech billionaire Ulle Dag Charles (Khalid Abdalla) before he launches River, a powerful program that’ll render finances worldwide transparent. The series, however, opens with Jackal’s first kill, the assassination of a German politician. This gets British MI6 agent Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch) involved in hunting for the guy capable of such a seemingly impossible shot before he can do it again.
That’s the basic overall story, the narrative shifting back and forth between The Jackal’s meticulous planning and Bianca’s relentless determination to identify and catch him. When focused on this, as well as an internal MI6 mole hunt, the show really crackles. While updating the basic premise with different characters and a more contemporarily relevant target, there are still plenty of elements and homages to the 1973 film that are pulled off quite nicely. In fact, Redmayne appears to use Edward Fox’s steely performance in the original as the foundation for his own. He succeeds quite well, exuding understated menace. There are moments when he even resembles Fox.
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| "I came here to feed the pigeons, and you're scaring them away." |
This additional exposition and character development ultimately renders The Jackal more vulnerable, even fallible, and therefore less menacing. It also tends to stall the show’s momentum, as do superfluous scenes depicting how Bianca’s obsession with her job adversely affects her own family life. I understand why both main characters have been fleshed out for the sake of a series, and there are probably plenty of viewers out there who will appreciate the additional melodrama. But these elements are never as engaging as the primary story, which is compelling, increasingly complex and often surprising.
I’m still not sure I like how Season One ends, with a finale that seems more concerned with setting up a second season than satisfactorily wrapping things up. But despite some initial misgivings, The Day of the Jackal works better as a series than I initially thought it would. When staying on-point, the show’s a lot of fun, with good action sequences, some jarring violence and a solid portrayal of the title character by Redmayne. As for those who revere the original film, it helps to stay open minded.
EXTRA KIBBLES
FEATURETTES - Melon Scene Breakdown is a piece that showcases one of several homages to the original film; Becoming the Jackal is an interview with Eddie Redmayne; Becoming Bianca is an interview by Lashana Lynch..png)
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