The Day Of The Jackal Review: Great Start, But Grows Too Silly

The Day Of The Jackal Review: Great Start, But Grows Too Silly

As a longtime fan of suspenseful thrillers and action-packed dramas, I have to say that “The Day of the Jackal” on Peacock was a bit of a letdown for me. While it had some promising elements, particularly the performances by Lashana Lynch as Bianca and Richard Dormer as Norman, the series as a whole felt overly long and poorly plotted.


As a dedicated gamer, I’ve got to say that “The Day of the Jackal” is a legendary title in Hollywood, thanks to the iconic 1973 film bearing the same name. This classic flick, directed by Fred Zinnemann and adapted from Frederick Forsyth’s novel, is often hailed as one of the greatest cop movies ever made. The story revolves around an assassin known as the Jackal (played brilliantly by Edward Fox), hired by the terrorist organization OAS with a mission to eliminate Charles de Gaulle.

The thriller “The Day of the Jackal” commences with a calculated assassination. At first glance, it appears that the character portrayed by Eddie Redmayne is targeting the head of a corporation; however, he actually wounds the man in the leg instead. The individual who was truly intended for elimination is the man’s father, a prominent political figure vying for office. In a remarkable demonstration of skill, the Jackal successfully takes him down at the hospital, where he had come to visit his injured son. Remarkably, this assassination was executed from over 3,000 meters away, a feat that borders on the supernatural in its precision.

This gets him his next job: killing the billionaire Ulle Dag Charles (Khalid Abdalla), an idealist who is releasing a program called River in which anyone can find out where anyone’s finances come from. There are some higher-ups who aren’t happy with this development and want River to be shut down; killing UDC, as he prefers to be called, is sure to do it. But the Jackal has to get to him first, and there are many difficulties to doing that. Not least of which is MI6, Britain’s answer to the Central Intelligence Agency, and specifically, a particularly dogged agent named Bianca (Lashana Lynch). However, Bianca is dealing with her own difficulties, not the least of which includes her husband and daughter, who don’t appreciate the way work occupies all her time. To reveal more would be to go against the spoilers that Peacock has in place, but needless to say, the cat and mouse game between the Jackal and Bianca is just getting warmed up.

Redmayne falters and Lynch shines

The Day Of The Jackal Review: Great Start, But Grows Too Silly

In this cat-and-mouse chase, Bianca focuses more on locating Norman (Richard Dormer), the gunsmith of the Jackal, rather than tracking down the Jackal himself. She sees Norman as a means to an end, yet he proves to be elusive. Conversely, the Jackal manages to elude Bianca and her team with seeming ease. However, it’s a woman named Nuria (Úrsula Corberó) who poses the greater challenge for him, as she significantly impacts his life compared to Bianca. Peacock asks us not to reveal her identity, but rest assured that she plays a more significant role in his story than Bianca does.

As a gamer immersed in the role of The Jackal, I can say that his storyline outside Nuria takes a predictable turn. He’s always slipping into custom disguises and vanishing for extended periods to dodge detection, but his objectives are simple: eliminate his next mark. However, Eddie Redmayne’s performance is puzzlingly inconsistent. One moment he portrays an emotionless character unfazed by anything, and the next he breaks down over seemingly minor events. It leaves me wondering about The Jackal’s true nature. Is he a cold-hearted individual who feigns affection for select people? Or does he genuinely feel, but just happens to have an unusual line of work? Redmayne’s performance is too conflicting to maintain coherence, which is one reason why this series fails to live up to its potential.

Lashana Lynch stands out for being exceptional in her role. A significant part of this is due to the abundance of characters she gets to engage with. Unlike the Jackal, who operates solo, Bianca has a wide circle that includes family, coworkers, and case suspects, providing a variety of responses. She handles all these individuals skillfully, whether they are her work superiors, portrayed by Chukwudi Iwuji and Lia Williams who prove to be more mysterious than they initially appear, or her husband and daughter (Sule Rimi and Florisa Kamara) who test her beliefs.

An overly long and poorly plotted series

The Day Of The Jackal Review: Great Start, But Grows Too Silly

Despite Lashana Lynch delivering a commendable performance as Bianca, both she and the entire production struggle due to a series that drags on for too long and is filled with unnecessary elements. The initial episodes are engaging, but “The Day of the Jackal” falters in the middle. This extended 10-episode series would have benefited from being shorter – perhaps six or eight episodes if it had trimmed the excess.

Eventually, I became deeply entangled in the Jackal’s efforts to execute his targets. I felt dismayed when he failed to carry out the murders and briefly exhilarated when he succeeded. This was troubling for me as I don’t approve of celebrating real or fictional deaths. However, these scenes are so skillfully crafted that it’s hard not to find them oddly captivating, despite my discomfort with the gratuitous killings. This is particularly true as the series progresses because the remaining plot becomes increasingly dull.

As the Jackal and Bianca inch towards their starkly contrasting objectives, the narrative becomes increasingly absurd, filled with preposterous chases and ill-advised actions from both sides. The show, however, seems less concerned with why the Jackal or Bianca act in the ways they do, but rather, how those with power and resources manage to carry out heinous acts unscathed. It’s a grim lesson, perhaps not what was initially anticipated, yet it appears to be the topic “The Day of the Jackal” is most invested in… until it learns about potential renewals for another season.

The first five episodes of “The Day of the Jackal” premiere on Peacock on November 14.

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2024-11-01 10:30