Review of "Murder By Numbers," DVD

Review of

Murder By Numbers, DVD


Four out of five stars

 The premise of this movie is one that has been used many times, the brilliant high school student that considers himself devoid of feelings planning to commit the perfect crime in order to generate some passion and excitement in his life. Richard (Ryan Gosling) and Justin (Michael Pitt) are high school classmates, but on the opposite end of the personality spectrum. Richard is the son of a very wealthy man and is one of the cool kids. Justin is a brilliant introvert that is an avid reader that explores somewhat alternative philosophical positions.

 Somehow, these two boys become partners in a plan to commit the perfect murder. They select a female victim at random, kill her and leave her body by a creek. They very carefully plant clues that lead to another “logical suspect” and it appears that the case is closed. However, Detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) refuses to go along with the conventional wisdom and goes out of bounds in an attempt to find evidence against the boys. She is also fighting her own internal demons, having a literal love/hate relationship with her male partner.

 It moves along fairly well, but the writers make it a bit schizophrenic. It is played as a psychological crime thriller, but degenerates into a climactic battle scene to the death towards the end. It would have been preferable if they had stayed on the psycho-thriller track.