It's as if someone set out to make an alternate version of "The Day of the Jackal" minus the momentous target of Charles de Gaulle.

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For connoisseurs of the genre, all of this evokes the thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock, along with Fred Zinnemann's "The Day of the Jackal, " and the associations are acknowledged.

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Leading the protest were West, who starred in films including Cry Freedom and The Day of the Jackal, and his wife, who played Sybil in the comedy series Fawlty Towers.

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