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.
Review of A Slight Case of Murder
A Slight Case of Murder
(1999 TV Movie)
This is what happens when you spend your whole life watching movies.
18 May 2001