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Parents' Guide to

Murder by Numbers

By Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 18+

Predictable thriller is definitely not for kids.

Movie R 2002 121 minutes
Murder by Numbers Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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What's the Story?

In 1924 there was a murder was so shocking that it was called the crime of the century. What was chilling was the motive -- not money or passion but a cool arrogance that led two wealthy young men to try to prove they could get away with murder. That case is the inspiration for MURDER BY NUMBERS, which centers on Cassie (Sandra Bullock), a detective whose is tough around her colleagues but hides her sensitivity. Cassie has yet a new partner, Sam (Ben Chaplin) -- no one will stay with her long enough to work on a second case. At first, it seems as though clever police work has led Sam to the killer. And when Cassie insists that the solution is at the same time too neat and unanswered questions remain, no one wants to listen. There is something about the two high school kids -- rich, popular Rick (Ryan Gosling) and introverted, scholarly Justin (Michael Pitt) -- that bothers her.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say Not yet rated
Kids say (1 ):

Murder by Numbers feels predictable, even manufactured, a sort of movie by numbers. It's easy to see why Bullock, who also produced, wanted to make this movie. She gets to play a grittier (and more wounded) character than her usual girl-next-door parts, and she does have a couple of showy scenes.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the role parental neglect might have played in creating a need in Rick and Justin to do something angry and destructive and the way that two people can spur each other on to do things that neither of them could have imagined alone. Why was becoming a detective a good or bad way for Cassie to respond to her past? Did the detectives lie to the suspects? Is that fair? Families may also want to talk about the famous "prisoner's dilemma", which we see here as the police question the two boys in different rooms so that each one feels pressure to confess first.

Movie Details

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