Murder by Numbers

Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt, Chris Penn
Directed by: Barbet Schroeder
Rating: R
Genre: Thriller, Crime
2002

Times Seen:
Tim: 2

Summary: A go-it-alone homicide detective (Sandra Bullock) investigates the murder of a woman with her by-the-book partner (Ben Chaplin). While the clues all point elsewhere, the real killers may be two high school students (Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt) whose motive would simply be to see if they could get away with it.

Review:

Tim: This is a surprisingly intelligent crime thriller. Murder mysteries roll out of Hollywood constantly and most are cookie cutter films, more or less all the same. This film is refreshingly different.

I love having the killers be two high school teens who are bored with life and have disposable incomes. The killers are so unlike the normal crime thriller killers that they become the most exciting part of the movie.

Sandra Bullock plays a character unlike her typical ones. She has some skeletons in his closet and must cope with them daily. While she is different for once, her character isn't too likeable. Because of this, and because of the extreme like-ability of the killers, I found myself rooting for them to get away with it. I never do that.

Murder by Numbers is a very smart film that keeps you on your toes and is very interesting. The film is quite enjoyable. This is an intelligent move that treats its audience as equals rather than talking down to us. It is different and exciting and very fun to watch.


Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Taking Lives, Miss Congeniality, A Time to Kill, Kiss the Girls, The Notebook, Lost Souls