Murder by Numbers

Pros: Barbet Schroeder (definitely) Sandra Bullock (probably) San Luis Obispo for sure!
Cons: I hate movies that make me think when I just want entertainment.

Well, shades of Leopold and Loeb, what have we here? Don't worry, I'm not claiming to be old enough to have followed the L&L trial, but I did watch Hitchcock's Rope, so that ought to count for something. I was even going to compare one of the...

Pros: Just about the whole movie
Cons: Plot was a bit confusing

After seeing the trailer, I was a bit skeptical. I said ok, this one doesn't look too good. So I saw it today and what can I say, it was great! Beginning to end, I enjoyed watching every minute of it.

The only thing that I didn't like was that...

Pros: Psychology. The two boys. Sandra Bullock. Unpredictable.
Cons: Some moments are a little too convenient.

We have a winner! As much as I jabber on about going back to see a movie twice, I have not wanted to enough to actually make a second trip since Monsters Inc. Well, Murder By Numbers is the latest to worm the cash out of my pocket for a...

Pros: Bullock and the entire cast are terrific. Barbet's direction is stylistic. Smart, but predictable script.
Cons: The length. The Hitchcock ending.

A lot of critics have allegiance to certain directors. I’m still baffled to this day how Roger Ebert gave “Dr. T & The Women” three and a half stars, when I certainly can’t see why anyone would give it more than zero. But to say that I too don’t share...

Pros: Keeps your attention
Cons: Should Have Ended Different

Murder by Numbers, I have never seen a movie that takes your attention, and makes you think one thing, and then again, you aren't quite sure if your guess is right. It takes you from side to side to make you wonder who is the real murderer. I think that...

Pros: Two very good new actors - Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt
Cons: Not really a whodunit

MURDER BY NUMBERS is a strange hybrid movie that entertains on many levels. Hybrid - like the Hollywood-fashionable Toyota Prius that runs on both gas and electric engines. First of all, the gas - it's a Sandra Bullock movie which means mainstream ...

Pros: Intriguing, Sometimes funny,
Cons: It is a bit annoying, and sometimes predictable, but still has unexpected twists

Starring a very talented and witty, cast, this movie makes for a good murder/mystery thriller. I enjoyed that there were twists and turns that you had to pay attention to, in order to pick them out. I also liked how there was more then one story going...

Pros: Gosling, Bullock, Caplin and Pitt in that order. Cinematography. Editing. Direction.
Cons: Numbers? What numbers? Lags occasionally.

This is an engrossing thriller that thrills through exceptional performances and painstaking revelation. The pace is sometimes excruciatingly slow, but it is extremely well constructed and edited-so the slow parts will require your complete attention...

Pros: Begining of movie is cool, Sandra Bullock play a good character
Cons: Movie gets long a boring towards end, bland ending

Murder by Numbers is about two kids: one who is a rich popular, spoiled, and good looking. The other is smart, quiet, and different. The two kids who are bored with everyday life, research police investagation stratigies and murder girl to get a rush....

Pros: Character development.
Cons: Some easy outs in the storyline.

"Murder By Numbers" is a crime drama/thriller that took me by surprise. Expecting a rather cookie-cutter police whodunit, I was pleased that the movie had several much more interesting facets.

I want to keep the plot summary here bare bones,...

Pros: Good plot, keeps you interested. Bullock very good; Ryan Gosling a standout.
Cons: You've seen some of this before in better movies. Title makes no sense.

Sandra Bullock plays a tough-as-nails detective searching for a couple of teenage serial murderers who think they can commit the perfect crime.

I didn't really know what to expect and I was hoping it wasn't going to be another MISS...

Pros: Good dialogue, good cinematography, fast moving plot
Cons: Too many twists, not enough incisiveness

"Murder By Numbers" tries to do too many things. It attempts to be a "Heathers" style study of teen angst and violence; it strives to present a battle between female law and two psychotic killers as in "Fargo" and it wants to be able to throw one...

Pros: Early Ryan Gosling performance shows much of his charismatic promise
Cons: Bullock is pretty bad.

The best reason to see this movie now, several years after it came out, is to enjoy an early role from Ryan Gosling. In many ways, his performance as one of two empty, misguided teenage boys who commit murder just to see if they can do it got him the ...

Pros: Two good, younger actors and a good idea.
Cons: The idea executed poorly, without much character development.

I like thrillers, and I like Sandra Bullock, but this movie fell flat.

Sandra Bullock plays homicide detective, Cassie Mayweather. Cassie has a new partner, Sam (played by Ben Chaplin who looks a lot like Benjamin Bratt, her co-star in Miss...

Pros: An eye opening performance by Sandra Bullock.
Cons: Drags a bit. The ending is on auto pilot.

There's a shot in "Murder By Numbers" that really
got my attention. It's an inside shot of a human hand. The camera races along across the surface of the skin and then the skin turns into a grass covered hill.

I must say, I liked...

Pros: Decent performances in the leads
Cons: Predictable

Murder by Numbers is a formulaic, made-for-TV movie with brief, easily cut scenes of sex, drugs and bad language to get its R-rating, without spoiling its future release to Network TV. The plot could have been written as a screenwriting class project by ...

Pros: The film with Michael Pitt and Ryan Gosling.
Cons: The film with Sandra Bullock and Ben Chaplin.

My apologies for the long silence from Chateau Maine. It's just that everything has been so hectic, what with the daily trips down to Rosita's Ice-A-Rama to continue rehearsals for my elaborate new theatrical presentation, Aida on Ice. I regret...

Pros: Sandra Bullock
Cons: Not enough back story

This movie was thisclose to being a good thriller, but unfortunately, fell short in several areas.

The basic premise: It's a Leopold and Loeb story sorta -- two high schoolers decide to commit the perfect crime, i.e., they plan to pick...

Pros: Interesting movie
Cons: Some things were unresolved.

I had read some reviews by people who didn’t like Murder by Numbers, but I did still want to see it. I like mystery/thriller type movies and I like Sandra Bullock. My friend and I decided to go see Murder by Numbers one...

Pros: OK for a video release - avoid at the cinema
Cons: Like a TV movie with big names

Murder By Numbers is the latest movie to feature Sadra Bullock, the woman who revolutionised the role played by female action movie characters when she appeared in Speed in the early 90s. Since then she hasn't really done much else of note which is a...

Pros: Sandra Bullock is solid as usual
Cons: Most of the flick is far too predictable to be a thriller

Often times, people try to delve into the psyche of a serial killer to try and figure out what went wrong. My job today will be to delve into the movie "Murder by Numbers" to explain what went wrong within this film.

Sandra Bullock is a high...

Pros: Sandra Bullock is great in any movie! this movie was suspenseful to the end.
Cons: definitely not appropriate for children.

Although the young co-stars can be somewhat annoying, Sandra Bullock does a nice job pulling out this film. The film could have been written to flow more easily, but it was suspenseful and entertaining. I thought the main character had some real...

Pros: Interesting initial premise and good cast, but...
Cons: BAD WRITING, too many coincidences, inconsistent & unsympathetic characters, BAD WRITING....

Murder by Numbers starts off with the intriguing premise of a murder committed by two students, one of whom has become an expert in forensics and knows exactly what the homicide squad will be looking for, and thus what to cover up… The murder is planned i ...

Pros: none
Cons: none

Can two teenagers get away with murder? In Murder By Numbers, two high-school students, played by Justin Pendleton and Richard Haywood, try to find out. One is a sociopath obsessed with criminal procedure. The other is his lackey friend that...

Pros: a couple of good plot twists near the end
Cons: long, boring, cliche-ridden, uninspired, derivative, and mostly lacking a pulse

Murder by Numbers is a story about a pair of high-school buddies who've been watching one too many hours of Court TV. In an age of instant information - and information overload - they've come up with a grisly extracurricular project: Take the life of ...

Pros: Ryan Gosling, everything else eh.
Cons: the eh.

Murder by Numbers tries to meld together the psychological aspect of crime with a 2 hour voyage of discovering the truth. In some movies this means 2 hours of action and whodunnit scenes leading up to conclusion that concludes with the...

Pros: Some of the acting
Cons: One or two solid performances don’t make a decent movie

Is this what murder mysteries are coming to? Is the crime/thriller genre so bereft of decent, original ideas that this is the kind of movie that gets one of those “highly recommended” stickers on it at the video store? Of course, Cruel ...

Pros: Interesting premise
Cons: Predictable and has bad character development.

The murder mystery film is a genre that has been around since the early days of film. Over the years, audiences have thrilled to the working of Sherlock Holmes, Hercules Pirot, and Hitchcock as they spin and unravel the mysteries before them.

...

Pros: Fine performances by Gosling and Pitt. Some genuine suspense.
Cons: Huge plot holes, cliched characters, sloppy ending.

Since catapulting to super-stardom with her role in Speed, you might say that Sandra Bullock has been suffering a little bit of a slump. Keep in mind that Speed was released in 1994. With that said, we’re talking about an actress that has starred in...

Pros: Sandra Bullock and the cast.
Cons: Ho-hum.

Murder by Numbers is everything its title implies, a standard-issue crime drama spat out from the Tinseltown assembly line: it gives a name actor a showcase role (and an executive producing credit); its designated surprises are anything but; its...

Pros: At least it's not gory
Cons: It's just not a good movie

I've been having a string of bad luck recently, renting one lame movie after the next (Panic Room, Dragonfly, the Mothman Prophecies), and you would have think I'd have learned my lesson by now. I've been in the mood for something suspenseful and scary...

Pros: Chilling, but wasted performances from Pitt and Gosling
Cons: Overdone characters, flimsy story that collapses in the end

Stephen King was one of the most profound influences in me becoming a writer. The way he could use words, simple, everyday ones, to generate the extremes of emotions, mostly terror, both internal and external, is what lured me towards this profession....

Pros: Bullock shows a bit more range
Cons: Dull script, slow pacing, unlikable characters, stilted direction...

GRADE: C-

Sandra Bullock should have paid closer attention to rival Julia Roberts’ career.

Though Roberts is currently the hottest, highest-paid actress in her field, six years ago she made the mistake of stepping too quickly into...

Pros: None
Cons: Script, Acting, Directing, Etc...

Murder By Numbers is a purely by the numbers movie without much to offer the viewer. If you think you might be surprised by any new plot points as the movie rolls along, you will not. The story tries to be tough and shocking, but only falls back on...

Pros: pretty sets
Cons: the acting, writing, directing

I like Sandra Bullock. I admit it. She has some serious dramatic limitations, but generally speaking, I like to watch her movies. Sadly, this is not the case with Murder by Numbers.

I chose Murder by Numbers because it was on...

Pros: An interesting plot... on paper, Michael Pitt's acting
Cons: An hour of CSI is more entertaining

I read some early reviews and saw that this movie had been thoroughly trashed. I'm never very swayed by that, so my wife and I chose to see this movie regardless.

The plot, in and of itself, is interesting, especially for anyone who is...

Pros: There is nothing positive to say. Avoid this film.
Cons: The film is boring and uninteresting.

I have a preconception that Sandra Bullock is best suited playing the cutesy love interest character in sappy romantic comedies. I cannot see her in a dramatic role; however, these notions aside, I went into the screening for Murder By Numbers with an...

Pros: it actually does end
Cons: it actually begins. Only woe does lay in the hinterland

Four very different movies in one, Murder By Numbers convinces in none. It wants to be a romance starring Sandra Dee, whoops I mean Sandra Bullock and Ben Chaplin. It wants to be a murder mystery starring Sandra Bullock as a homicide detective (you can...

Pros: Interesting plot idea.
Cons: Too long. Silly subplot. Awkward/strange dialogue.

For a movie that could have been a real thriller, I feel disappointed that I must not recommend this movie, even as a rental. There just aren't enough redeeming performances, humorous scenes, interesting plot twists, nor non-stereotypical characters, to ...

Pros: Good opening sequence.
Cons: Incredibly silly, no suspense, worthless climax

Literally a second after the credits began for Murder By Numbers, I looked over to my friend sitting next to me and said simply, “That was stupid.” Though I have always been a pretty straightforward kind of guy, my own comment caught me by surprise this...

Pros: Some evocative lighting by the great Luciano Tovoli.
Cons:

Terrible characterizations, boring story, so-what? characters, stagnant direction.

Having given an outstanding performance as a tomboy-ish FBI agent in the buoyant and bright Miss Congeniality, I had hope that Sandra Bullock (previously an acquired taste with this reviewer) had realized her dramatic limitations and saw fit to ...

Pros: What?
Cons: Conned? Yeah, me, for watching this movie.

I can't believe I watched this movie in it's entirety. I can't believe that anyone watched this movie in it's entirety and said it was a great movie. This movie gave me a sharp headache-pain behind my left eye halfway through the movie. The entire ...

Pros: Michael Pitt, interesting premise, picturesque cinematography
Cons: bad script, poor execution

Ever since Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold did their terrible deeds in that suburban Colorado high school, capturing the attention of the nation--the world even, many have tried in vain to fathom how such deeds were possible. Unfortunately, even after...