Rent Frederick Forsyth: Death Has a Bad Reputation (1990)

Another clever title.... - Frederick Forsyth: Death Has a Bad Reputation review by SB

for another very middling thriller in this series. Frederick Forsyth again makes some pompous opening remarks; and then we are plunged into the messy world of terrorist The Jackal, who works off and on for the Soviet Union but is a distinctly loose cannon. When he is brought out of 'cold storage' to resume operations based in Rome, he is pitted against Alan Howard's crumpled British intelligence officer, who is again breaking the rules and acting unprofessionally.

Thre are lots of shadowy meetings; the Americans hang around the fringe of events and sulk because their Ambassador got killed; the Jackal undergoes unlikely transformations and is presented as a sexually manic psychopath. The best performance is from Pamela Villoresi as the double agent with her own personal agenda. The settings - which were actually filmed in Rome - add much-needed local colour, even when also used as a cheap substitute for the few scenes set in Paris.

The story itself is very simplistic and ends bloodily. Elizabeth Hurley is an unlikely investigative journalist who refuses to work for British Intelligence; and then promptly does so despite her very amateurish skills. In an explosion which nearly kills the man standing right next to her, she incurs not a mark on her lovely skin, what a surprise; but her eye-candy appearances fade out towards the end when the going gets gritty.

Okay for an evening when there's nothing much on TV.