The film centers on a serial killer whom Fancher describes as "a cross between Psycho's Norman Bates, Melville's Billy Budd and Being There's Chauncey Gardner".

After killing a heroin addict named Casper he met at a bar, he makes her death look like an overdose and moves to a new town.

Doug takes Vann to a high school football game, where he meets Gene, a star athlete, and his family.

An autopsy reveals that the death was the result of a rare poison derived from tree bark fungus found in the Pacific Northwest.

[3] The site’s critics consensus states: "While its subdued thrills and lack of answers may prove frustrating, The Minus Man delivers a chillingly measured performance from Owen Wilson.

[4] In praising the film, Andrew Sarris writing for the New York Observer said: "A surging undercurrent of black comedy drives us out to sea without ever breaking to the surface with glib psychological or sociological explanations.

[5] Sarris singles out Garofalo's performance as "incandescent ... one of the most enticingly endearing female movie characters in recent years – witty, bubbly, but at the same time lonely and terrified of rejection".

Glenn Lovell described the film as "an assured blend of Camus and Hitch's small-town classic, Shadow of a Doubt" in his Variety review.

[7] The Shooting Gallery's The Minus Man promotional campaign and materials, like many independent films (see Sony Pictures Classics' When the Cat's Away and Miramax's The Crying Game) tried to spark discussion/word of mouth among audience members after they left the theater.

The woman (played by Marin Hinkle) realizes she is late for work and rushes to her job as a lifeguard, where two people are floating dead in the pool.