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Murder by Numbers
User Score
6.4 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 18 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 18
  3. Negative: 4 out of 18

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  1. JackD.
    Oct 10, 2002
    3
    The first half is very good, but then it all falls apart, and the end is both stupid and sadistic... too bad because Bullock is excellent.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. SonjaMaggýM.
    Jul 18, 2002
    10
    I really like Ryan Gosling!!!:)
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. GaborA.
    Apr 13, 2006
    2
    Let me start by saying that no script ever written could be made into an enjoyable movie done with the terrible, straight to TV directing of this film. It was laughable. On top of that the script was aweful. This is the worst type of thriller, boring and dry and then still inconceivable and stupid. This film really ends up with no redeeming qualities because what would have been good acting is dissolved by the stupidity of the scenes in which they try to act.… Expand
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  4. JinC.
    Apr 22, 2002
    7
    I watched the previews for this movie and knew that i wanted to see it. Happily, i was not disapointed. At times, you can see the blatant seams of the screenwriting craft underneath the pretty facades but nevertheless, it does what it does very well. The actors playing the two young murderers are amazing. Definitely an ed norton moment for the evil rich kid. Bullock is an agreeable presence as always and it was interesting to see her play butch. Chaplin was a good choice to play opposite her too. An odd reference to the empire strikes back stands out as an interesting moment in the film. It seems to rely on our familiarity with ESB in order to establish an expectation and then to surprise us later by reversing it. Odd.... couple of good twists at the end too. A very good, if morbid flick.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. raVen
    Jul 19, 2003
    7
    Okay, as a whole it's pretty much a house of cards. But the two baddies--Gosling and Pitt--are REAL creeps! I guess coming in I figured Sandra's star power would make them seem foolish and unbelievable. But they do a good job shoving her around, which was what the roles needed. And Bullock, who I love, does a good job of looking shoved-around. I wouldn't touch either of these guys with a 39-foot pole.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. CatrinJ.
    Aug 10, 2003
    10
    I thought that the movie was fantastic and Sandra Bullock proves once again that she is a great actress. She was brilliant in miss congeniality aswell, fantastically funny n very entertaining to watch.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. ThiagoG.
    Sep 29, 2002
    10
    It's a great film and Bullock is the very best actress in the world!!!!
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. Lopez17
    Aug 11, 2010
    5
    In May of 1924, two young Jewish men named Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb had planned to commit the perfect murder they had it all thought out in there heads taking seven months to put their devious little murder into motion. They picked there target a young Polish immigrant named Robert Franks; everyone called him Bobby, Franks was an extended relative and neighbor of Richard Loeb. The duo lured young Bobby Franks into the car where either Loeb or Leopold struck Franks with a Chisel and stuffed a sock into his mouth young Franks died soon after. They covered the body and drove to a remote location near Wolf Lake in Hammond Indiana; they removed Frank’s clothes and left them by the side of the road where they soon proceeded to pour hydrochloric acid on his whole body to make ID more difficult. They soon after went to a hot dog stand to eat and hid the body under a culvert near the Pennsylvania railroad tracks, just north of Wolf Lake. After returning to Chicago Loeb and Leopold sent a ransom note to Franks parents telling hem there son had been kidnapped they mailed the ransom note to her and destroyed all physical evidence of there involvement in the murder. Soon enough the body of Booby Franks was found and Loeb and Leopold quickly burned the robes used to move the body and the typewriter used to make the ransom note. However, a Chicago detective named Hugh Patrick Byrne found pair of glasses with a unique hinge mechanism only three were ever sold in the Chicago area one of the buyers was Nathan Leopold. Byrne brought them in for questioning and there entire perfect scheme fell to pieces there alibis were proven false and to make matters even better Loeb and Leopold confessed to the kidnapping and murder of Robert Franks they were tried and convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison( for the murder) and 99 years(for the kidnapping). They both died in prison, Loeb and Leopold were exceptionally smart men but when it came to premeditated murder, they just did not have what it took to play the game. Barbet Schroeder's "Murder by Numbers" is loosely based on the murder of Bobby Franks by Leopold and Loeb, while it does have the certain feel of being a fact based film this 2002 murder mystery lacks the chills and intellectual conviction to really leave you with a feeling that you've watch a compelling murder mystery. Instead, you feel like you wasted 2hrs. 1min. on a film that does not even come close to living up to it's title, what I did like about this film was the noir elements I liked the clammy, gritty feel of the picture how it swerves in and out of the darkness, how it feels so claustrophobic. That I admire about this film I also admire the fact that it was able to hold my attention through the whole thing it engaged me and made me think, if only for a little while. What I didn't like was that it was too predictable you knew the end yet you still watch, you know who is going to live and who is going to die but you still bother to see the how it ends. That is the mark of a great director it's ingenious how Barbet Schroeder is able to capture the audiences attention the way he does , but it is also such a shame how this production with good direction falls so short of the planned idea for this film. " Murder by Numbers" may not be the best of it's kind but it works none the less if it had a better script, premise and set up "Murder by Numbers" could have been a pretty good crime thriller. When you think about it carefully, murder is never a sure thing even in the case of the two perpetrators Justin (Michael Pitt) and Richard (Ryan Gosling) who have it in there heads that they can commit the perfect crime and get away with it. There plan to me is far too preposterous to believe and in the real world there crime would be consider as average but meticulous. The murder, and how they put the idea together of how to get away with it is less than interesting or intriguing but it is entertaining to watch them work. It has intrigue, mystery and very morbid cinematography I like the look just not too crazy how it was executed. "Murder by Numbers" is an impressive set up mixed together with a not so impressive premises and plot that wavers between plausible and ridiculous and while times it seems like this film is going to give you the thriller you would expect from the premise it let's you down. Hard. "Murder by Numbers" is low on the expectations bar but there are moments that this film delivers what it promise, but that promise is short lived. It could have been great, it could have been something instead .of the cliché thriller that it is.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 35 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 35
  2. Mixed: 18 out of 35
  3. Negative: 3 out of 35
  1. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Rene Rodriguez
    50
    In Murder by Numbers, though, even Schroeder can't keep his own boredom from showing.
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  2. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    40
    A moralizing thriller so listless that it plays out like a game of mouse and mouse.
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  3. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dennis Lim
    50
    But owing no doubt to the requirements of Sandra Bullock, the movie's above-the-line star, executive producer, and worst enemy, this potboiling procedural never stands a chance of disproving its title.
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