The aftermath of the notorious "Ninja Murders", aka "The Yom Kippur Murders", is dramatized by following Melody Woodman (Mimi Rogers). Her husband Stewart (Elliot Gould) is convicted of conspiring with his brother Neil (John Pleshette) to hit a hit on their parents, Vera and Gerald (Kim Hunter, Sam Wanamaker). The murders are backstory; this is a lightly-fictionalized account of Melody's travails after Stewart goes to prison. She loses her multi-million-dollar house, her dozens of fur coats, her jewelry, and her wealthy friends. She can't afford her three kids' private-school tuition anymore. Forced to move in with her mother and find a job, she demonstrates pluck and integrity as she deals with adapting to life as a wage earner.