YMMV / The Day of the Jackal

• Aluminum Christmas Trees: The forger who foolishly attempts to blackmail the Jackal, repeatedly sniffles and rubs his nose. When movies used to be forbidden to show cocaine being snorted onscreen or even say the word cocaine, they used these gestures as code for cocaine addiction.
• Jerkass Woobie: In the novel Jacqueline (Denise in the film), the OAS mole who seduces St. Clair, receives a backstory chapter detailing her Dark and Troubled Past which includes both a brother and boyfriend killed in Algeria, a miscarriage and a failed suicide attempt, which all combined to radicalize her out of desperation and resentment.
• Magnificent Bastard: "The Jackal" is a Professional Killer hired to assassinate French President Charles de Gaulle whose operation is only caught on to thanks to a member of his organization blurting out his codename under torture. The Jackal infiltrates Paris and manages to stay a step ahead of the authorities the entire novel. In one instance, when seemingly cornered, the Jackal asks a series of seeming innocuous questions of the police officer, gleaning all he can from the man before realizing it is safe to eliminate him. The Jackal constantly misdirects the authorities, placing himself in the perfect position to assassinate de Gaulle and when he is finally tracked down, it is only seconds before he pulls the trigger on his target.
• Misaimed Fandom: Forsyth has said: "I thought Lebel was the hero. Jackal was the villain. I was very surprised when readers said that they loved him. He was the ruddy killer .... I had expected women to hate him. He used, then executed his mistress. But no, he had a lot of female admirers."
  • Conversely, Fred Zinnemann, director of the film version, claimed that French officials he met while preparing the movie considered Jackal a flattering portrayal of their security forces. Considering their use of torture, kidnapping and other unsavory methods in the book and film, Unfortunate Implications abound.
• Retroactive Recognition: Yes, that is a young Derek Jacobi playing Lebel's assistant Caron.
• Special Effect Failure: There are two near the end of the movie. There's a clear cut between the moment the Jackal raises his arm and when he kills the Paris innkeeper. During the final showdown, the Jackal is sent flying backward by the force of the machine gun bullets that are hitting him. You can clearly see the wall shaking upon impact, making it obvious that the room interior was a set.
• Vindicated by History: The film underperformed at the box office. But is now considered a classic. It got a big boost after the loose remake The Jackal was a critical flop.
• The Woobie: It's hard not to feel for the Countess that the Jackal seduces as it's shown she was genuinely glad to see he'd followed her to her home and was delighted in being found attractive by someone again. Even more so in the book, where we find out more about her life, and she is married to a Dirty Old Man who (openly and embarrassingly) chases younger women and has no interest in her.

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