Murder by Numbers

2002 "The only flaw in their plan was her."
6.2| 2h0m| R| en| More Info
Released: 19 April 2002 Released
Producted By: Castle Rock Entertainment
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Tenacious homicide detective Cassie Mayweather and her still-green partner are working a murder case, attempting to profile two malevolently brilliant young men: cold, calculating killers whose dark secrets might explain their crimes.

Genre

Drama, Thriller, Crime

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Murder by Numbers (2002) is now streaming with subscription on Max

Director

Barbet Schroeder

Production Companies

Castle Rock Entertainment

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Murder by Numbers Audience Reviews

Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Beanbioca As Good As It Gets
Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.
Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.
dakjets This could have been very good. Good actors, an exciting plot, quite uorginal script etc etc. The movie also starts well. Two students with sociopathic characters agree to commit the perfect murder. They then conduct a killing and the investigation is under way. All of this is presented to us. To make the film work after this, we depend on a good direction and surprises. This does not happen. However a lot of unlikely, silly things happen. We are being presented to an investigator who suddenly has major social problems, without this having any significance or adding anything to the film. There are also strange things, such as the investigator taking revealing pictures of the suspects, and then being harassed by one of them. Something that results in some kind of breakdown. Very strange. When this happens in the movie, I lose the last lasting interest. Too bad. A lost opportunity. A better script would certainly have helped
Tweekums This crime drama opens with what appears to be the double suicide of two boys in an abandoned clifftop house. In what follows we see how they came to be there. They are Richard Haywood and Michael Pitt, two intelligent high school students who believe they gave committed the perfect murder. They have planned just about every detail making sure that there is plenty of forensic evidence pointing to another man. When their victim, a woman, is found detectives Cassie Mayweather and her new partner Sam Kennedy are put on the case. Early on Cassie thinks that the evidence is somewhat contradictory; certain details point to a well-planned crime others suggest it was spontaneous. Footprints, made by a pair of expensive boots, lead Cassie to Haywood but he had reported to boots stolen three weeks previously. She sees a certain arrogance in him and wants to look closer into him but his wealthy father has political clout so her boss would rather she concentrated her attentions elsewhere.This is a solid enough story with plenty of interesting details. While there is no real doubt that Haywood and Pitt are behind the woman's death there are details that aren't immediately obvious; notably why did they plant a baboon hair on the body and who did they commit the crime when all the evidence suggests that Haywood has a cast iron alibi. As is often the case in such dramas our protagonist, Cassie Mayweather, has a past that ultimately explains why she is so fixated on proving that Haywood is not just one of a pair of killers but that he dominated his accomplice into getting involved. Sandra Bullock does a solid job as Mayweather and Ryan Gosling impresses as Haywood. The rest of the cast are pretty good too. Overall I'd say that this is a decent murder drama that fans of the genre are likely to enjoy even though if it weren't for the presence of Sandra Bullock and a fair amount of swearing I might have thought it was made for television rather than the cinema.
JohnHowardReid I was amazed to find that this particular picture had induced no fewer than 300 user reviews when I looked it up on IMDb. I find that really astonishing, particularly as the theme has been used before and – despite its top-scale budget – this movie was obviously designed for a TV rather than a theatrical presentation. The director loves close-ups. Even minor characters get the close-up treatment. Mind you, production values are more than TV can afford, although a vital special effects scene at the climax is so shoddily done, it must have seriously undermined the audience's reaction when projected on a cinema's huge screen. Nevertheless, although it could stand a little trimming, the movie does come across effectively thanks to very convincing acting from everyone in the cast from the leads to the minor players and even to the extras. Available on an excellent Warner DVD.
David Holt (rawiri42) It amazes me how writers continue to come up with interesting and different plots for thrillers and Murder By Numbers is no exception. I suppose we, the viewers, are bound to get "involved" with the story - I know I do. Like: are there actual people like Richard (Ryan Gosling) and Justin (Michael Pitt) out there somewhere who see getting away with the most heinous crime of all as just the ultimate challenge? If there are - and I believe there are - then how do they overcome the urges that drive them? And, when they don't, unless there is a cop like Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock), how do they ever get caught? And then, when they don't get caught because their decoy - in this case, Ray Feathers (Sean Penn's lesser-known brother Chris) - is dead and cannot be cross-examined, where are they now? Do they live next door? Are they the guy at the next desk or machine where you work or the rich kid in your class at school?Money isn't always a blessing. Especially when all it does is cause the sort of boredom that drives a person to psychosis like that portrayed in this movie.Not a movie I would recommend to a nervous girl to watch alone. She could just end up a paranoiac who is scared to go out, even in broad daylight.Who's watching you right now? And, even more to the point, why? OK, I think you need to go and check your mailbox now girls. Sweet dreams.