Catherine Zeta-Jones Takes On Quentin Tarantino-Meets-Guy Ritchie Crime Thriller ‘Kill Jackie’

Gangster shows have some time on stream. From Great Land to Fortunatelythese projects mix style and risk to draw in viewers by the millions, prompting networks to find their next hit. It’s the latest addition to that streaming queue Killing Jackiethe new comedy-thriller from Amazon MGM Studios, premiering this week on AMC+. At the heart of the activity is Catherine Zeta-Jonestaking a role that couldn’t be more different from the glamorous parts she’s known for. She still has style, of course, but those fashionable ensembles are now used with bullets and blood spills.

What is ‘Kill Jackie’ about?

Oscar winner Zeta-Jones plays Jackie Price, a wealthy but mysterious art dealer who lives in the gray area between law and order. One day, she discovers that her elderly neighbor has been executed by professional killers, and these same killers then try to kill her. Jackie has been targeted by an elite group of assassins known as the Seven Demons, something she suspects is linked to her past as a successful drug baron. Catching up with his faithful assistant (Hattie Hook) and a ruthless lawyer (Daniel Ings), of which no one knew the past, Jackie must draw on her old skills as her friends dwindle to fight off her pursuerswhile also trying to find out who is really behind the hit.

Killing Jackie based on the novel The price you pay with Nick Harkawaywriting under his pseudonym Aidan’s chests. The main character was gender reversed for the TV adaptation, with the action moved from New York to London. Tom Butterworthcreator Gangs of Londonserves as writer and showrunner, while Zeta-Jones is an executive producer, with Jackie marking her first lead role in a TV series since 2019’s Queen of America. It is also a rare opportunity for the actress to perform with her Welsh accent, the first time in her career that she has had the opportunity to do so.

Killing Jackie establishing her beauty from the start, with the show’s lead wearing skimpy clothes and walking around to cool needle drops from such Dusty Springfield, MIAand Tom Jones. Very quickly, things descend into chaos, with elaborate killings, sharp gags, and colorful characters. As a careless look John Wickthe series quickly introduces the viewer to a criminal underworld where everyone has a special trophy (each of the Seven Demons has their own special calling card, for example).

Killing Jackiestyle is knowingly over-the-topwith effect like Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie clear to the eye. The dialogue never takes itself too seriously, either, with Zeta-Jones subverting the villains’ threats with a painful eye roll, rousing insult, or breaking down the fourth wall. The supporting characters in particular are broadly drawn (all the villains seem to be drawn from a vault of gangster movie stereotypes), but Jackie herself is so likable that it makes her happy vs the dynamic world as the walls close in around her.

Catherine Zeta-Jones is a lot of fun as a woman on the run in ‘Kill Jackie’

After making a name for herself in Hollywood on the big screen in the late 90s and 2000s, Zeta-Jones began working on American television in the late 2010s with roles in shows like Feud: Bette and Joan, Wednesdayand National Finance: The Margins of History. Most of these have been supporting parts or characters that depended on her glamour, but in Jackie, Zeta-Jones found worthy a major role that also plays to her reputation for comedy. Not only does she have a wonderfully dry sense of humor, but she is willing to commit to both physical joy and death-defying action.

The wit and charisma of Zeta-Jones successfully increases Killing Jackie when the plot loses its way. She has a magnetism that makes you believe that Jackie’s inner circle would just drop everything to follow her, while at the same time showing a tough edge that keeps up with the sinister criminals fighting for her head. If the show lasts beyond this first season, it will be because of Zeta-Jones carrying it on her shoulders with expensive clothes.

‘Kill Jackie’ will finally be tied in knots

At last, Killing JackieThe writing is so concerned with pulling narrative rabbits out of hats that, in the end, the world of the series becomes a maze of double tracks. Everyone the trio meets has a hidden agenda that usually ends in gunfire, and the plot often ties itself into knots trying to sneak a surprise around the next corner. This formula eventually repeats itself, because instead of not knowing who to trust, you end up knowing that everyone is suspect and that there is always another puppet master pulling the strings.

The series also delights in showing almost every way a character can be murdered, with blood flying across the screen as fast as Jackie’s private jet. It’s hard to know anyway Killing JackieThe story takes more of a moral stance or, as Jackie suggests in the first scene, it’s more about a rich person who wants to experience the joy of risk one more time. If the show’s episodes had gone in at half an hour each, these flaws might have been easier to hide at the frenetic pace of the story – but at around 40-45 mins, these weaknesses make the second half of the season drag.

Killing Jackie it’s not your next obsession, but it may be your next guilty pleasurewith a fizzy mix of comedy, action, and beauty that carries a plot more interested in shock than making sense. However, Zeta-Jones’ charming title character might be enough to entice you to see the story through to the bitter end.

Killing Jackie premieres October 2 on AMC+.