THE DAY OF THE JACKAL

THE DAY OF THE JACKAL - 1973

RATED - PG -There is some non-explicit violence and two very brief scenes of rear nudity after a sexual encounter which is unseen and it is in a very dark room.

RATINGS - 137 Amazon (5/5), 159,393 Netflix (3.8/5), 10,816 IMDB (7.9/10), Roger Ebert (4/4).

STARRING - Edward Fox (The Jackal), Michael Lonsdale (Investigator Lebel).

AWARDS - Nominated in 1974 for an Academy Award, 4 BAFTA Awards, including Best Film, and 2 Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture.

STORY - This political thriller, based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth, begins with a failed assassination attempt by the OAS, an organization angered by President DeGaulle's liberation of Algeria. They realize they are now under intense surveillance by French security and intelligence and must go outside France to hire a professional killer. His code name becomes Jackal. When the French kidnap and torture a member of the OAS, they get the word 'jackal' out of him before he dies. With that slim clue and Investigator Lebel they go to work to track down this apparent assassin. The film runs two parallel tracks between the French security forces and The Jackal, who always seems to be one step ahead. While the film covers in great detail the plans of The Jackal to carry out the perfect plot and the painstaking intelligence work on the part of the French government (before computers and cell phones), it never seems to bog down or be boring. It keeps you on the edge of your seat, building to the climactic 'Day of the Jackal' when DeGaulle is to be assassinated. You don't have to suspend logic to believe this film. It is based on the cleverness and genius of the assassin as well as the intuition and perseverance of Investigator Lebel. Both are obsessed with their jobs and are up to the challenge. A top notch thriller. Roger Ebert calls it 'spellbinding'. Lu G. for Lu's Reviews. 11/22/2008.

LINKS - AMAZON, IMDB, TRAILER, ROGER EBERT