Homicide Detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) is investigating the murder of a young woman whose body was found in the woods replete with tantalizing clues: yellow carpet fibers, the hair of a baboon, and a dollop of vomit. And then there's the victim's one finger that's missing - severed, apparently. Almost from the first, the audience knows that the perps are Richard (Ryan Gosling) and Justin (Michael Pitt), two creepy, clever, and bored teenaged boys (See? What did I tell ya!) with way too much time on their hands and too little parental oversight. Most males their age, with hormones sloshing over, just want to score with the babes. These two would rather commit the perfect murder because ... Well, just because, that's all.

To me, MURDER BY NUMBERS has the tempo and feel of a made-for-TV movie. Perhaps it's too contrived. (Ok, ok. Most big screen thriller plots ARE contrived. But this one suggests some rookie screenwriter tried too hard.) Richard and Justin are obviously two sick puppies, and that's cool. But then we have Cassie. Sandra Bullock usually plays a character that a fella would love to take to the prom and then home to visit Mom for milk and warm cookies. Maybe you'd still like to take Cassie home, but Mom had better be a head doctor. Mayweather is hauling some heavy psychological baggage - something to do with the scars just peeking over the top of her top. Cassie has been seeing the police shrink, and it was hard for me to imagine any law enforcement agency entrusting such a maimed personality with a gun and handcuffs. Moreover, her new partner, Det. Sam Kennedy (Ben Chaplin) is so bland as to be just short of invisible as an interesting character. And I was never convinced that Richard and Justin posed any sort of threat to Cassie personally, so tension was lacking. Yawn.

I'm giving MURDER BY NUMBERS three stars solely for the reason that I think SB is generally hot, and my eyeballs are still seared with the image of her character prancing out of her make-over session in MISS CONGENIALITY. Do you suppose she's available for the Christmas formal?

Very much watchable
Review date: 2006-03-10 Rating: 8 out of 10

Great film. No boring bits. Clever and has twists.

why 4 stars not 5? Just cos I'm super picky. This is not a film that will blow your mind away, but one you will have been glad you have seen.

Murder by Numbers
Review date: 2005-08-04 Rating: 8 out of 10

"Murder by Numbers" is a killer thriller that takes the twist that there are people out there who would be happy to kill simply for kicks and to see if they could get away with it.

Richard and Justin are two high school kids from different ends of the school popularity spectrum. Richard is the rich, manipulative, good-looking sports jock, always with a bevy of beautiful cheerleader followers whilst Justin is the spookily dressed brainy nerd. With far too much money, for too little parental supervision and far too much time on their hands the odd couple decide to spice up their lives by committing the "ultimate murder". They plan to kill a complete stranger and then lay a trail of false clues to incriminate someone else and generally fool the police. Their much-chanted mantra of "we cannot live fully without embracing suicide and crime" is chilling to say the least.

Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) is the Californian Police detective who along with partner Sam Kennedy (Ben Chaplin) is assigned to the case. Mayweather though seems to be on the edge of her own personal breakdown. When all the evidence blatantly points away from the two kids, Mayweather doggedly pursues the dislikeable brats, convinced that it is they who are behind the dastardly plot.

The acting in this film is generally good, Bullock, who is generally a delight to watch in any film is great here as the baggage carrying Mayweather, damaged and yet always likable the audience is always on her side and celebrates her victory at the end. Chaplin has less to do as the plodding Kennedy although he is solid and dependable. The two teenagers, Ryan Gosling (Richard) and Michael Pitt (Justin) give excellent performances, especially Gosling who has a very obvious malevolence amongst his cute blonde good looks.

There was much made of this film when it was released in America in connection with the Columbine High School killings and whether this film could be used as a blue print for the next generation of school kid murderers. British audiences will probably view the film as an escapism thriller, thinking that the premise of the film would never happen in real life. If this film leaves you wondering if it ever could happen, then it's a credit to itself.

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