The body of a young woman is found in a ditch in the woods of the small California coastal town of San Benito. The two gifted high school students who thought they had executed the 'perfect' murder must become engaged in an intellectual contest with a seasoned homicide detective.
26 June 1970, Joliet, Illinois, USA
8 June 1962, Paterson, New Jersey, USA
12 November 1980, London, Ontario, Canada
10 April 1981, West Orange, New Jersey, USA
18 March 1988, San Luis Obispo, California, USA
13 June 1950, Buffalo, New York, USA
8 July 1947, St. Louis, Missouri, USA
26 July 1964, Arlington, Virginia, USA
27 July 1945, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
16 August 1985, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
6 February 1971, Cleveland, Ohio, USA
4 November 1950, Alameda, California, USA
17 August 1953, USA
13 May 1964, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
31 July 1970, London, England, UK
December 26, 2010
Predictable thriller is definitely not for kids.
May 17, 2002
It's well worth catching for its interesting twists on the Leopold and Loeb story.
April 23, 2002
As long as Schroeder stays with the kids, the film musters a good deal of restless tabloid intensity, and even the occasional twinge of pathos.
July 20, 2002
The outline of Murder by Numbers may be familiar, but the filmmakers and Bullock do an expert job of filling in the colors.
April 22, 2002
Bullock is good, the script is not.
August 01, 2003
Lesson learned: Never ask Ben Chaplin to lose his British accent.
February 08, 2003
The literal cliffhanger ending is far too overblown to be convincing, but most of what comes before it deserves praise.
January 07, 2004
... It leaves you feeling that it could have been so much more.
June 25, 2004
The problem is that there's no real mystery to this mystery.
October 26, 2002
Director Barbet Schroeder, whose Barfly (1987) remains one of the most memorable in my mental filmbank, shoots this script with the kind of concentrated power that turns every scene into the most effective tool emotionally as well as expositionally.
June 01, 2002
We're less in suspense over how (or if) the killers will be caught than we are over the question of just who this tough, hedonistic detective is.
April 19, 2002
Turns potentially forgettable formula into something strangely diverting.
