Review of Murder by Numbers (2002) by Kylie P — 03 Jan 2009

This film was slightly fascinating, owing in every way possible to the performances of Gosling and Pitt, who gave their characters so much dimension that the movie, in a significant way, transformed into something of a character study of troubled teens who are propelled to committ murder. The cold calculations of their characters were really portrayed with mesmerizing nuance. Some of that nuance almost suggested a possible romantic involvement between the two of them, and while that was never explicitly explained or mentioned, particularly Gosling's slant on this element infused his character with so much texture, it was hard not to be taken by him. The film could have been reduced to two young, rich, white males who played too many video games and decided to act out on their "encouraged" violent tendencies, but these actors created three-dimensional characters that seem to be more troubled at their core, and these characters were compelling.

As to the other production elements, there were some obvious conventions used and possibly too many story flaws. There was nothing special about any of the visual elements, and the direction was underwhelming. The pacing was erratic, though it leaned more heavily on the side of slower than molasses. The story was incomplete. While the two teenagers were well-rounded characters, the Cassie character became a conundrum all on her own. Her motivations were unfocused at times, and no closure was given to her character's dalliance with her partner. The film itself became something of a hodge podge between Cassie's need to fight against her past and the two teenagers' struggle to protect their heinous actions. The intention was to show that Cassie was so troubled, she would identify with the victims of the crimes she investigated, including the current Jane Doe, to the the point of inappropriate emotional involvement which either enhanced her instincts or compromised her investigations or both. Her past also leads her to suspect Richard rather quickly, and though she turns out to be right, it becomes a confused interplay of quasi murder mystery/thriller, a psychological profile of several troubled characters, and a formulaic exercise in vindicating the woman who's taking it all too personally and is rightfully called out on the carpet for it, even it produces results.

If looked at as strictly a thriller, the film fails, because the pacing is so slow and erratic, and the penultimate confrontations between Cassie and Richard and Justin are so protractedly delayed, the film really provides no thrills at all. This film is best regarded as a dramatic character study of three troubled characters and how they each approach confronting their various troubles. As it relates to the teenaged boys, the film succeeds because their two perfomances transcend the cookie cutter outlines that could have rendered them and therefore the movie a lot less interesting. Besides, given the prevalence of teen shootings at high schools nationwide, this inside look into two psyches provides an interesting perspective bordering on semi-intelligent social commentary. As it relates to Cassie, however, the film as a character study becomes formulaic and incomplete. Cassie is the cookie cutter; she's traumatized, this trauma affects her life adversely, it affects her work adversely. she encounters a nice man and finds herself, and decides to fight for whatever she thought she lost. The ending of this is too predictable, and while Bullock did a fine job with what she was given, she was not really given much to work with. The character takes few risks because the movie takes few risks, and while this part of it almost wants to be social commentary about certain things, it falls short and flat through the execution of it all.