Hm… in the version I heard, Kennedy was already familar with the book, because when he heard they were making the movie, he had one excited question: “Who’s playing the mother?”
I agree with you they were nuts to attempt a remake of this Citizen Kane of thrillers, but you could do worse than Jonathan Demme, Liev Schrieber, and the great Denzel.
The Day of the Jackal is my all-time favorite. The Fred Zinneman/Edward Fox version, of course, not the Bruce Willis monstrosity. The entire story of how the Jackal is recruited, prepares, and goes gunning for deGaulle is made far more believable than any other flick of this sort. In the Line of Fire, while good, gets hung up on a lot of highly improbable encounters between Clint Eastwood’s and John Malkovich’s characters.
It was Frederick Forsythe’s book that made it all possible, of course. Of Forsythe’s other filmed books, The Odessa File is probably the best. I wasn’t as fond of The Dogs of War or The Fourth Protocol.
Despite their ludicrous flamboyancy, I love the Bond movies – even the bad ones. But **From Russia with Love, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, For Your Eyes Only, ** and The Living Daylights are the best, possibly with the addition of Die Another Day (all IMHO)
Hitchcock always claimed that they stole the Bond movie style from North by Northwest. Great film.
The Spy Who Came in from the Cold is a very well-made Spy film – the perfect antithesis of the colorful, escapist, unrealistic Bond thrillers. It’s black-and-white, claustrophobic, and depressing.
If you’re looking for lighter stuff, I recommend (as I have before) Charade – great cast, direction, music, and Peter Stone script. Ignore the recent remake, The Trouble with Charlie.
I heartily concur. (Peter Stone also did the fabulous screenplay for one of my picks, The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.)
You know what movie everyone (including myself) is forgetting? JFK! Regardless of where you stand on the Kennedy assassination question, it’s hard to deny that Stone made one of the most riveting political thrillers ever.