X
- 2002
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 55 m
- 2002
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 55 m
Summary Faced with the challenge of solving a "perfect murder," homicide detective Cassie Mayweather (Bullock) is forced to face and free herself from the tormented past she buried long ago. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By: Barbet Schroeder
Written By: Tony Gayton
- 2002
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 55 m
- 2002
- R
- Warner Bros.
- 1 h 55 m
Murder by Numbers
50
7.3
Where to Watch
Summary Faced with the challenge of solving a "perfect murder," homicide detective Cassie Mayweather (Bullock) is forced to face and free herself from the tormented past she buried long ago. (Warner Bros.)
Directed By: Barbet Schroeder
Written By: Tony Gayton
Where to Watch
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 35 Critic Reviews
50
40% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
51% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
9% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Metascore
Mixed or Average
Based on 35 Critic Reviews
50
40% Positive
14 Reviews
14 Reviews
51% Mixed
18 Reviews
18 Reviews
9% Negative
3 Reviews
3 Reviews
Turns potentially forgettable formula into something strangely diverting.
Though Schroeder makes you squirm more than you want to at the inevitable scenes of the trussed-up female murder victim, he also has the proclivity and the skill to make at least the B-picture half of Murder by Numbers of more than passing interest.
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 53 User Ratings
7.3
53% Positive
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
42% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
6% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
User Score
Generally Favorable
Based on 53 User Ratings
7.3
53% Positive
28 Ratings
28 Ratings
42% Mixed
22 Ratings
22 Ratings
6% Negative
3 Ratings
3 Ratings
In this film, two abnormal students decide to perpetrate the perfect crime, but things start to go wrong when an experienced detective mistrusts them. We have seen similar things before, the film is not exactly original in the subject it addresses, being clearly inspired by the crime committed by Leopold and Loeb, decades earlier.
The movie never hides anything. From the beginning, we know almost everything that will happen and who the killer is. So there is no secret or mystery and it spoils the movie a lot. The relationship between the two boys is quite dysfunctional and even conveys the idea of a certain latent **** between them. To make matters worse, they both correspond to two detestable juvenile stereotypes (one is the typical impersonal nerd, the other is the rich, idiot guy). In turn, the detective is the typical "macho girl".
The actors are fairly decent in their work. Sandra Bullock is very competent and does a fine work. Ryan Gosling is good and gives his character an almost magnetic charisma in a deeply disturbing interpretation. Michael Pitt is not far behind in a clearly crazy character.
Overall, it's a decent movie, but it loses a lot for the absence of mystery and for giving of tray everything that the public should wait to discover.
Report
In effect gives you two movies for the price of one. The better one doesn't star Sandra Bullock.
A near miss, a respectable but uninspired thriller that's intelligent and considered in its details, but ultimately weak in its impact.
Doesn't necessarily make Murder by Numbers an awful film; it's certainly watchable, but it never escapes its paint-by-numbers design.
Director Barbet Schroeder is too elegant an artist for this material, which veers between routine cop-movie conventions and high-toned malarkey that seems a lot closer to Dungeons & Dragons than to "Thus Spoke Zarathustra."
This premise could, just maybe, make for a decent thriller, but everything about Murder by Numbers is so flavorless and rote, so devoid of real suspense and human interest, that you never suspect for a moment that the answers are likely to be engaging.
Il s'agit d'un polar certes joliment présenté mais un peu trop ficelé comme un Columbo, ce qui n'est pas vraiment un compliment : les longueurs s'additionnent et se succèdent au fil d'un scénario qui tente de capter et garder l'attention de son audience via quelques doutes sur le ou les coupables ; des doutes qui font long feu, car les ficelles tirées sont bien trop grosses.
On a bien à la louche 20 mn de trop et un manque de rythme patent, malgré un développement plutôt intéressant de la personnalité de notre super flickette, Sandra Bullock. L'actrice abonnée aux comédies supra-débiles se révèle ici étonnamment convaincante et Ben Chaplin, un second couteau aussi solide que sympathique est là pour l'épauler.
Ryan Gosling encore ici tout jeunot tire son épingle du jeu lui aussi et incarne avec un aplomb remarquable un petit con de bellâtre tandis que son comparse Michael Pitt habitué aux rôles d'ados tordus fait le boulot.
Bref, le film se signale davantage par sa distribution que par la longueur de son enquête qui s'avère des plus lourdingues à suivre et sans éclat particulier.
Report
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 Frankâ
Report
A somewhat acceptable ending saves Murder By Numbers from being a total mess. But, it is still cliché and derivative; it's poorly executed, poorly edited, poorly written, and poorly directed. The idea and story are okay, but the movie as a whole sinks. It starts to get a little better in the second half, but nothing can stop it from being typical genre fare. The whole thing just seems amateurish.
Report
Production Company
Warner Bros.,
Castle Rock Entertainment,
Schroeder Hoffman Productions
Release Date Apr 19, 2002
Duration 1 h 55 m
Rating R
Tagline Justice will be served
Awards
Chicago Film Critics Association Awards
• 1 Nomination
Young Artist Awards
• 1 Nomination
