Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases


Murder by Numbers (2002)

Director: Barbet Schroeder

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

The Leopold and Loeb murder case revisited, once again. Gosling and Pitt are spoilt, parentally unsupervised classmates Richard and Justin, flirtatiously conspiring to 'derange the world' by committing the perfect murder and then leading the investigating authorities a merry dance. But they reckoned without Bullock's seen-it-all detective Cassie Mayweather. Her distinguishing features are a no-nonsense professionalism, a consequently strained relationship with macho male colleagues, and repressed memories of a brutal relationship, which director Schroeder drags out (through opaque, unpersuasive flashbacks) in order to underscore a cheap closing parallel with the boys' crime. Before this, the film pries into Cassie's dating habits, throws in insinuations of class antagonism, and keeps back an isolated old cabin as the location for a routine, literally 'cliff-hanging' finale.

Author: NB

Time Out Film Guide


What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields




Most popular on this site


Top Stories

The 10 worst date movies

The 10 worst date movies

Just in time for Valentine's Day, we present ten of the least romantic films ever made

Oscar predictions for 2012

Oscar predictions for 2012

We take a punt on who will win this year's golden statues

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Where to watch this year's Oscar-nominated films

Find out where to watch 2012's Oscar-nominated films in London cinemas

10 unlikely badboy biopics

10 unlikely badboy biopics

Featuring Phil Collins, Jeremy Clarkson, Nick Clegg, David Starkey and a host of other unlikely subjects

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

Interview: Sean Durkin on 'Martha Marcy May Marlene'

The first-time director of the brilliant new thriller discusses religious cults and robot boxing

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has David Cronenberg turned tame?

Has director David Cronenberg veered too far from his radical and bloody roots with new film 'A Dangerous Method'?

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Pop-up cinema for Valentine's Day

Side-step romantic clichés with some alternative Valentine’s viewing