Murder by Numbers
| Murder by Numbers | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Barbet Schroeder |
| Produced by | Barbet Schroeder |
| Written by | Tony Gayton |
| Starring |
Sandra Bullock Ben Chaplin Ryan Gosling Michael Pitt |
| Music by | Clint Mansell |
| Cinematography | Luciano Tovoli |
| Edited by | Lee Percy |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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120 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $50 million |
| Box office | $56,714,147 |
Murder by Numbers is a 2002 psychological thriller film produced and directed by Barbet Schroeder starring Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt. It is loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case.
The film was screened at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival, but was not entered in competition.
Richard Haywood (Gosling) and Justin Pendleton (Pitt) are high school classmates; Richard is wealthy and popular, while Justin is a brilliant introvert. After months of planning a "perfect crime", they abduct a woman at random, strangle her, and plant evidence implicating Richard's marijuana dealer, janitor Ray Feathers (Chris Penn). Detective Cassie Mayweather (Bullock) and her new partner, Sam Kennedy (Chaplin) investigate. Cassie sleeps with Sam early on—as she has with previous partners—but won't let him see her chest, and curtly sends him home afterward.
Footprints at the crime scene lead to Richard, and vomit nearby implicates Justin. Both have alibis, and deny knowing each other, but Cassie is convinced that Richard is the murderer and Justin is involved. Sam criticizes her refusal to consider other suspects, as most of the physical evidence points away from the two boys. Cassie's boss, Captain Rod Cody (R. D. Call), and her cuckolded ex, Assistant D.A. Al Swanson (Tom Verica), fearing Richard's influential parents, take Cassie off the case. Sam, following the (planted) evidence, tracks down Ray. When Ray is found dead, apparently a suicide (actually killed by Richard), the woman's murder appears solved; but Sam decides that Cassie may be right, and continues the investigation.
Justin, who has a crush on classmate Lisa Mills (Agnes Bruckner), works up the courage to ask her out. A jealous Richard seduces Lisa, then gives Justin a video clip of the two having sex. Justin is enraged, but regains control, knowing Sam is still watching them. Cassie begins receiving calls from her ex-husband, Carl Hudson, who went to prison for stabbing her in the chest 17 times. His parole hearing is coming up, and he wants her to speak on his behalf. Cassie confides to Sam that although she became a cop to prove to herself that she wasn't a victim, she is terrified at the prospect of seeing Carl again. She also confesses that Richard reminds her of Carl—which is why she is convinced of Richard's guilt, and obsessed with proving it.
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