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Full Review
Despite its veneer of psychological insights, "Murder by Number" (Warner Bros.) is pretty much by-the-book. It succeeds more as a creepy thriller than as the astute character study it wants to be.Pitted against one another with life and death consequences are homicide detective Cassie (Sandra Bullock) and twisted high school seniors Rich and Justin (Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt).
After she is called to a gruesome female strangulation site, which seems to have a personal resonance with her, it soon becomes clear that the teens have planned and executed the murder, and also set up the drug selling school janitor (Chris Penn) to take the fall.
Their motive seems to be the one good point the movie is making: left without discipline or responsibilities by career-obsessed parents who ignore the daily necessity of involved parenting, the bored rich kids decide they can commit the perfect murder. If this sounds reminiscent of the real-life Leopold and Loeb murder case from the 1920s, screenwriter Tony Gayton admits that was his inspiration. However, the script fails to truly explore why the privileged duo makes the giant leap from mere ennui to orchestrating multiple murders. The script's sociopathic twosome also uncomfortably bring to mind the Columbine killers and their careful planning as their parents were unaware of the monstrous acts being perpetrated in their midst.
Pitt and Gosling are credible in their roles: Pitt's Justin is the nerdy forensic genius while Gosling's Richard is the popular cool kid secretly drawn to Justin as a partner in crime. There is a homoerotic subtext but it is never developed just as attempts flesh out these two characters remain shallow. Nonetheless each gives a chilling performance in which there is no room for mercy and their mind games escalate in the race to outwit the police -- and maybe each other. Sliding dangerously between the killers is the seductive Lisa (Agnes Bruckner) who's moved on from Rich to Justin, another situation ripe for manipulation.
In terms of character study, the most attention is given to the shaky psychological state of our tough but vulnerable heroine Cassie. She's clearly hiding a secret past that has made her incapable of intimacy and has motivated her to become one ferocious homicide cop whose nickname is "the hyena." Newly paired with rookie detective Sam (Ben Chaplin), she roughly seduces him then throws him out, preferring her own tortured company and a bottle of scotch.
When carefully planted evidence leads the detectives to the janitor and he is later found an apparent suicide, Sam is ready to accept it as case closed. Cassie however has her eye on the secretive twosome and pursues them, which, true to the conventions of the genre, puts her life in extreme danger. This in turn segues into the usual melodramatic finale, but director Barbet Schroeder ultimately delivers only a mildly interesting police procedural.
Because of sporadic violence, brief sexual situations and substance abuse, some rough language and minimal profanity, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops classification is A-IV, -- adults with reservations. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted.
These movies have been evaluated for artistic merit and moral suitability by the media reviewing division of Catholic News Service. The reviews include the CNS rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.
The classifications are as follows:
A-I -- general patronage;
A-II -- adults and adolescents;
A-III -- adults;
L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
O -- morally offensive.
Note: Some movies previously were designated A-IV. Older films with this classification should be regarded as classified L.