Movie by Numbers - *½

1
Saw Murder by Numbers on Friday. Sandra Bullock coasts through yet another movie. Another uninspired performance by her. If you think she's flat, wait till you see the guy they pair her up with in this flick. He's got less of a pulse than the pope. The only redeeming quality of this film is the performances of the two "teen" boys. The one guy - this is the third thing i've seen him in (the other two being Bully and Law & Order: SVU) and he plays the same guy in this one - the "i'm bored so i think i'll kill somebody" guy. still, take away that annoying looking mouth of his and he's pretty good. the other guy, as the rich asshole pulls it off well.

this is one movie that looks much better than it is - and i realize that's not saying alot. it had the potential, but it just goes nowhere and falls victim to many of the usual "how to make a thriller" plot cliches, including scenes that serve no purpose whatsoever except to further shove down our throats that yes, Bullock's character is a bitch. pretty pathetic. by the time this one got done spoonfeeding me i had to look down to make sure i wasn't wearing a bib.

one last comment - how can you call your movie "Murder By Numbers" without featuring the great Police song by the same name??? so what if it was already in Copycat, your movie has the goddamn title!!!

oh well, just another way this is a wanna-be movie.