Murder By Numbers Imagine you planned the perfect murder; it took you and your partner months to figure it all out. Then after you decided that the murder was full proof you have a decision to make. Do you really go out and murder someone, or do you just leave it as a fantasy? That is what this movie is about.
Cast
Sandra Bullock (Cassie Mayweather) Sam Kennedy (Ben Chaplin) Michael Pitt (Justin Pendleton) Ryan Gosling (Richard Haywood) Chris Penn (Ray)
The story
Cassie is the chief detective and she is called to a crime scene were she ends up finding a young girl murdered. Cassie and her new partner Ben begin their investigation on the body and the crime scene. First they realize that she was not murdered in that spot, she had to of been killed else were and driver here and then dropped off. She was covered in plastic and tape, and there were stab wounds and a head wound found on her body. Her ring finger was cut off and there was no evidence of fingerprints or a murder weapon.
However Cassie did find some vomit that was close to the victim. Once the coroner did his investigation he told Cassie that the victim died of strangulation. Now Cassie and Ben had to begin their task of finding who done the killing. Meanwhile at Jefferson High School two boys named Justin (Michael Pitt) and Richard (Ryan Gosling) were trying to act as if they didn’t know each other. Hear all along the two boys were friends and they decided they were going to commit the perfect murder together.
Justin was a loner, he didn’t have friends and he looked a little weird. Now Ryan he was the good-looking football player and was out going. The two boys both came from upper class parents with money, but Richard’s parents had more money. No one would ever consider these two mismatched kids as friends. Justin was the mastermind behind the murder he was the smart one. He kept teaching Ryan all there was to the detective work and how they should kill the person and who to pick as the victim. They also said that if anything happened and they were to be caught they would meet together at the hide out and commit suicide together. Suicide to them would be better then spending life in prison. The thing is the boys never expected Cassie to be on the case.
They underestimated her ability to figure out who killed the girl. When Cassie went through all the evidence she knew in her gut that things didn’t seem right. The found out that a cowboy boot was involved in the crime and that evidence lead her to Ryan. Ryan made sure that he had his back covered and when he was interviewed by Cassie and she told him about the boot Ryan told her that his boots were stolen a few weeks ago from his school locker.
That all checked out, Ryan was telling the truth, so now what does Cassie do? Cassie also had other problems and she couldn’t sleep. Her new partner became involved with her and no one wanted to be her partner. Ben started to have a sexual relationship with Cassie but she seemed to push him away and make him feel bad.
The reason behind all this is because Cassie was once a victim herself she was stabbed and then left to die. She was also rolled in plastic just like the victim she is now investigating. The two boys even went as far as leaving some evidence that would lead them to a killer, but the person that the evidence led to wasn’t a killer. Ray (Chris Penn) was the janitor at the high school, he was also the friend of Ryan’s.
Ray liked p-orno movies and he also had a police record. So Chris was now the lead suspect in the killing. However to keep Ray quiet the two boys had to commit another murder, this time it was Ray their friend. They made it look like suicide cause he couldn’t take what he had done to that young girl.
Conclusion
I’m going to end the review right there. With Ray dead, and the police thinking he was the killer Justin and Ryan can now feel free. Let’s just say Cassie is happy with this outcome and she feels there is more to the story. How will the story end? Did the two boys get away with the perfect murder, and did Cassie ever face her demons of her past? Those questions can only be answered if you watch the movie. Sorry no ending here in the review of how the story went.
I really enjoyed this movie, and it sure did show how to commit the perfect crime, but in real life most the time they end up being caught! Sandra Bullock was outstanding, and I also enjoyed seeing her in other movies that were as equal to this one. She always does a great job. This was the first time to see Chris and Michael and Ryan in a movie. I say rent this today! It is a new release and was in video stores here in the USA on September 24, 2002. Everything about this movie was great, and it was a good thrill