|
'Murder by Numbers' deserves low marks
 Harold John Behling
|
|
In a genre that has produced such incredible movies as "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven", "Murder by Numbers" shows as much innovation, creativity and variation as a children's color by numbers workbook.
Assembled using familiar elements such as a cop with a troubled past, teenage angst, and the struggle of a lone cop against his or her departmental colleagues, "Murder by Numbers" is less than a sum of its parts, and a thoroughly disappointing attempted thriller.
Rich and practically orphaned by their workaholic parents, Richard Heywood and Justin Pendleton form an unlikely alliance to show off their knowledge of criminal investigation and nihilistic philosophy by committing the perfect crime. But the crime, as it almost always is in this kind of movie, is far from perfect and attracts the attention of a brilliant criminal investigator. Cassie Mayweather is the strong-headed homicide detective (played mannishly by Sandra Bullock) assigned to the seemingly random murder of a young woman. Despite what her partner (played by Ben Chaplin), boss and the D.A. thinks, she becomes determined that the two high school boys committed the crime.
"Murder by Numbers" trips awkwardly between several different struggles. Cassie competes with a doubting department while trying to deal with her own insecurities resulting from her tireless "tough girl" front, and also her haunting past which pops up when she receives a parole hearing notice in the mail. Justin and Richard struggle with keeping their deadly secret and also with guilt they begin to experience. Just for added complication a love interest is thrown in between the two, which adds very little and is played very badly as a side plot.
Another difficulty with "Numbers" is its failure to penetrate the psyche of either of its two suspects.
Bullock's bullish personal struggle is over emphasized and steals screen time away from what the audience is truly interested in: the sick and twisted minds of two disgruntled teens. Although there are some memorable moments between these two, and as far as the acting in "Numbers" is concerned, Ryan Gossling and Michael Pitt greatly eclipse the dynamic duo of Bullock and Chaplin. However, the camera never fully penetrates into their criminal minds. The single attempt to give these misguided children notice is through Justin's manifesto, a nihilistic argument for freedom through criminal acts.
This tirade, however, can't hold a candle to the meticulously constructed psychotic ranting from "Silence of the Lambs" or "Seven." Over reliance on this as the motive makes Justin and Richard seem more ignorant than malevolent, and fails to create the profile of a sadistic killer that truly drives a movie in this genre.
If these other aspects of the movie had been properly adjusted and aligned, "Murder by Numbers" would be a standout for its well guarded secrets, plot twists that are unforeseen but still believable, and even a couple of genuinely suspenseful moments. Unfortunately, this is a bad movie and not worth whichever number corresponds with the ticket price at your local theater (for me it was $6.50).
Harold John Behling can be reached at: [email protected]
|
|
|
|
|
|
