MURDER BY NUMBERS (2002) - Movie Review

Director: Barbet Schroeder
Starring: Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt, Agnes Bruckner, Chris Penn
Genre: Crime, Mystery, Thriller
Writer: Tony Gayton
Runtime: 115 min
Rated: Rated R for violence, language, a sex scene and brief drug use
Buy This Movie: DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

In 1924 there was a murder was so shocking that it was called the crime of the century. What was chilling was the motive -- not money or passion but a cool arrogance that led two wealthy young men to try to prove they could get away with murder. That case is the inspiration for Murder By Numbers, which centers on Cassie (Sandra Bullock), a detective whose is tough around her colleagues but hides her sensitivity. Cassie has yet a new partner, Sam (Ben Chaplin) -- no one will stay with her long enough to work on a second case. At first, it seems as though clever police work has led Sam to the killer. And when Cassie insists that the solution is at the same time too neat and unanswered questions remain, no one wants to listen. There is something about the two high school kids -- rich, popular Rick (Ryan Gosling) and introverted, scholarly Justin (Michael Pitt) -- that bothers her.

Review:

Barbet Schroeder has made two amazing movies: the 1987 dramedy "Barfly" starring Mikey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, and the 1990 fact-based drama "Reversal of Fortune" starring Jeremy Irons and Glenn Close. Both films are character-driven, deeply focused, sharply written and provocative. The script for "Barfly" was penned by poet/author Charles Bukowski as a semi-autobiography, and "Reversal of Fortune" earned Schroeder an Oscar nomination. After that, Schroeder worked on derivative thrillers with interesting premises that ended up mostly disappointing: "Single White Female", "Kiss of Death", "Desperate Measures". The 2002 psychological thriller "Murder by Numbers" is no exception, but it is a strangely engaging sample of early 2000s moviemaking.

I mentioned Schroeder's character-driven work mostly because he does seem to have a genuine human interest even when directing the most mundane thriller. "Murder by Numbers" is also heavily focused on its characters and the darkest corners of their minds. And the characters are intriguing . But the movie is also a police procedural, and often the filmmaker seems to have difficulty balancing the film's two sides efficiently, resulting in a bit of a muddled mess. It's also slightly overlong at around 110 minutes, especially since there's no mystery involved, with the identities of the two killers, played by young career starters Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt, being revealed almost immediately. This shapes most of the movie as more of a cat-and-mouse game between the two teenage murderers and Sandra Bullock's tenacious detective.

The movie could have been a slog, but thanks to its performances, it's constantly watchable and engrossing. Bullock pulls off a convincing departure from her usual comedic performances, digging deep into detective Cassie Mayweather, a character filled with disturbing issues and a dark past. However, there are perhaps some questionable writing choices, like her rapey behavior towards her colleague, played with stoic determination by Ben Chaplin. Then we have the two killers played by Gosling and Pitt, who are easily the scene-stealers in this movie. The relationship between the two is delightfully twisted, a sickly friendship that hides a power struggle to dominate one another as they try to get away with the perfect murder, for no other reason than to demonstrate their superior intellect.

The third act capper is a disappointing over-the-top shootout complete with a cliffhanger finale. It's all very ridiculous and feels more like a studio mandate to raise the adrenaline levels. It just doesn't work, because up to that point the movie seemed quite cerebral, and all of a sudden it becomes a big action flick.

"Murder by Numbers" is a by-the-numbers procedural that aims for deeper, darker depths, but can't quite find them. It's polished and well acted, but riddled with plot issues and an absurd ending. It probably looked good on paper, but the execution just misses the target. It's still entertaining and worth a watch if you enjoy ripped-from-the-headlines crime flicks (the story is inspired by the 1920s Leopold and Loeb case), and Bullock's fans will probably want to give it a try anyway.

SCORE: 6/10