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 I'm
gonna go out on a limb here and say that Sandra Bullock is a really
good actress who has yet to make a really good movie.
Now, don't get me wrong. I like Sandra Bullock--I really do! It's
just that I find her movies to be notoriously weak. Sure, 28
Days, Forces of Nature, and Miss Congeniality were mildly
entertaining moviegoing experiences, but it's not like any of them
packed enough of an emotional wallop to stay with me long after
I left the theater.
The same can be said of Murder by Numbers. Once again, Bullock
is engaging, this time as a tough-as-nails homicide detective, but
despite other solid performances and a premise that's inspired by
the real-life Leopold and Loeb case from the 1920's, Murder by
Numbers ends up being a film whose whole is far less than the
sum of its parts.
In the sleepy coastal town of San Benito, California, police detective
Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock) and her rookie partner Sam Kennedy
(Ben Chaplin) are about to face their toughest case yet. The body
of a woman has been found, and the only clues they could find lead
them to two extremely different high school students--the introverted-but-intelligent
Justin (Michael Pitt) and the arrogant-but-irresistible Richard
(Ryan Gosling). By second-guessing the police, Justin and Richard
think that they have carried out the perfect murder, but it's only
a matter of time before the persistent Cassie brings them in. That
is, if she doesn't die trying.
Murder
by Numbers is a derivative, sub-par version of the CBS-TV series
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation. Which is too bad, especially
considering that it was directed by Barbet Schroeder, the prolific,
talented director behind Reversal of Fortune, Single White Female,
and Our Lady of the Assassins.
As for the cliches, you practically need a calculator to add them
up. There's the emotionally disturbed cop who turned to law enforcement
as a way to battle her personal demons, the by-the-book partner
she's trying to break in, and the criminals who find out that they're
not as smart as they think they are.
Having said all that, the acting is quite solid. As usual, Sandra
Bullock puts in a strong performance, even if she does borrow from
her slovenly cop in Miss Congeniality. If anything, it's
only when the movie focuses on developing her tortured background
that it shows any signs of life (and a much-needed sense of humor).
The problem is, even this subplot is left underdeveloped, and as
a result, the film fails to resonate on an emotional level.
Given the weak material they have been given, the supporting players
are still immensely watchable. British actor Ben Chaplin sports
a near-perfect American accent as the supportive-yet-speculative
partner, while Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt are disturbingly effective
as the partners in crime, bonded solely on their desire and arrogance
to one-up the law.
If there's any conclusion that could be drawn from Murder by
Numbers, it's that Sandra Bullock should stop producing her
own movies (she's listed here as "Executive Producer"). While one
can certainly sympathize with her desire to control her career,
she may have a problem seeing the forest through the trees. In other
words, she may not be able to differentiate between movies that
she likes and movies that she would be good in. In that sense, she
may be depriving herself of that one truly great performance that
would catapult her into the critical stratosphere. (I mean, wouldn't
she have been great in a movie like Erin Brockovich?)
Keep in mind that I say all this out of deep respect for Sandra
Bullock as an actress and as a filmmaker. After all, I like Sandra
Bullock--I really do!
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