A Slight Case of Murder

Okay, I love Bill Macy, who's invariably fun to watch, with those pouchy eyes and that "please don't kick me again" expression-- or maybe it's "please don't kick me again so hard." And I love Donald Westlake, one of the best writers of light capers on the scene today. Westlake wrote the novel on which this is based, which I seem to recall reading as "Enough," not "A Travesty," which is what it says in the credits. The combination of these two guys is inspired, all the better in that Macy co-wrote the adaptation and tailored the lead precisely to his acting strengths. Macy just looks like a typical Westlake hero-- only, as one of the other characters points out, he really can't be the hero if he's killed his girlfriend, even accidentally. And he's not really the hero, I guess, although you do sort of root for him. Macy plays Jerry Thorpe, a not-very-nice TV film critic, whose attempts to evade the consequences of committing an accidental murder get more and more involved as the plot thickens. It's an anti-Columbo, where we follow the criminal, not the cop, and wonder when and how he's going to blow it. Macy's stayed true to the book, adding a lot of character touches and a couple of nifty flourishes. He even includes a funny reference to one of his own previous pictures, "Searching for Bobby Fischer." I guess, for me, the fun was just watching Macy have so much fun in a leading role-- like Steve Buscemi, he's a terrific character actor who rarely gets the chance to carry a film. He carries this one, and I hope to see him carry more.

It is probably the reductio ad absurdum of the self-conscious neo-noir that its ultimate hero/villain/victim should be a film critic, about as far removed from the original prole/lower-middle-class noir heroes (e.g. 'The Postman Always Rings Twice', 'Double Indemnity') as you could get. Faced with a crisis, Terry Thorpe turns it into a screenplay, a fiction. And this is what saves the film from smart-alecky ghastliness - it is a film about mid-life crisis, the flaws and difficulties of the modern affluent, middle-aged man. it seems like noir can still speak for people rather than to itself, but this often palls - the best joke is a corpse called Laura who doesn't get up.

William H. Macy is brilliant as Everyman caught in a desperate situation. Starts off with a bang and never lets up. Twists and surprises are fresh, unpredictable. Use of film noir clips and frequent quotes and references to 30's and 40's flicks makes this a delightful "must" for movie buffs.

I can not say this movie was a hilarious, but I must have had a grin on my face the entire time. I like this darker kind of comedy; "very bad things", "8 heads in a duffel bag" or "coldblooded"

The way the main character tries to get away with murder is a lot of fun to watch. To me it was not much of a surprise what the ending would be, but the way that ending came about was. Another thing that sticks out, is the way they have managed to involve the audience. The way Terry looks at us is hilarious, you can almost pretend you're his accomplice.

when I realized that the main character in this movie is the same man (William H. Macy) who provocate all the deaths in FARGO. I said "man, you are a real maniatic". the story has his own way to tell the story.

also the camera takes are fantastic. the first take "going up the building" are awsome, very clever.

I trully recommend this picture, not only because the story, is a great movie if you're a "Movie Classics Lover".