Rob Munro

As the father of a boy, Stephen Graham's performance tore at my heart. "I should have done better" are the words every parent knows to be true.

A most odd style-over-substance movie made all the more annoying by a baffling choice of soundtrack. Leaves every interesting or thoughtful consideration of a modern American civil war behind in favour of a dated study of the moral dilemma of being a war correspondent using every cliche in the book. Seasoned, damaged old pro takes on wide-eyed rookie against her better judgement? Check. Half-crazy journo gets off on the adrenaline rush of war? Check. Random war crimes commited by psychopathic GIs? Check. Frankly who cares? This could have been SO much better

The Day of the Jackal is my all-time favourite thriller in both novel and film format. This series is nothing like either. There's none of the whip-smart plotting, meticulous attention to detail and razor sharp characterisation of Forsyth nor the glorious sense of time and place and relentless tension of Zinneman's cinematic interpretation. Cobbling together a ludicrous plot, random exotic locations and a host of tedious and unnecessary subplots, it's a huge disappointment. I mean, The Jackal has a wife and kid called Little Carlito? Come on! But the worse aspect of this whole debacle has to be the casting of Lashana Lynch as the world's most unlikely MI6 operative. The lumber lorry of wooden acting which she unloads in every scene utterly ruins the show. The few redeeming sequences, like the bit with the water melon (shot as a respectful and deserving homage to the great Edward Fox in the 1972 movie) occur when Lynch is far from the camera.

Unwatcheable Ruth Wilson's portrayal of Emily Maitless makes this show unwatchable. The ex-BBC reporter is undeniably a self-regarding and pompous individual in real life but this dreadful attempt to capture her on screen is truly awful. I didn't last half an hour.

Slow and boring. I literally fell asleep.