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Actor Alan Arkin has an impressive film directorial debut with Little Murders, Jules Feiffer's bitter and moving satire (originally produced as an off-Broadway play). Elliot Gould (who also co-produced the film) plays Alfred Chamberlain -- a one time successful photographer who is now down on his luck because he began to eliminate people from his photographs. He also suffers from an inability to feel or to be passionate about anything. But then Alfred meets Patsy Newqvist (Marcia Rodd), who takes it upon herself to mold Alfred into "a strong, vital, self-assured man, that I can protect and take care of." As their relationship develops and Patsy takes Alfred to meet her parents, they suddenly bang up against the brick wall of urban violence and insensitivity. In this world of senseless killings and madness, Alfred realizes that the only way to get back into the world is to become as insane as everyone else.