Adapted from a Donald E. Westlake novel by star William H. Macy and director Steven Schachter, A Slight Case Of Murder follows the tangled web of deception a film critic (Macy) weaves as he attempts to cover up his role in the accidental death of a woman with whom he's been sleeping. His efforts are undermined, however, by a blackmail-happy private investigator (James Cromwell) and a film-buff cop (Adam Arkin) whose wife takes an interest in Macy for reasons other than his knowledge of film. Originally made for cable, A Slight Case Of Murder gets off to an undistinguished start, with Schachter establishing early on a glib, superficial tone that makes it difficult to care about any of the film's broadly drawn characters. It doesn't help that Macy's morality-impaired protagonist frequently directly addresses the camera to provide similarly glib running commentary on his increasingly complicated travails, giving the film an odd, unsuccessful Ferris Bueller Goes Film Noir feel. Things pick up considerably during the second half, however, as the film's tone grows darker and Macy becomes more comfortable with his newfound role as a scheming antihero. Much is made of his profession allowing him a certain insight into the workings of the criminal mind, but only about the last half-hour of this sporadically entertaining film allows its self-reflexivity to pay off.