Critic Reviews
Murder by Numbers (2002) Rank 2 Reviews
Expert Review Summary
based on (196) reviews
Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating
Reviews by Score:
Chicago Tribune (Mark Caro)
Blunt Review.com (Emily Blunt)
TheMovieChicks.com (Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone)
The story has some nice twists but the ending and some of the back-story is a little tired. The performances are all solid; it merely lacks originality to make it a great movie. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at TheMovieChicks.com (Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone)
Fantastica Daily (Staci Layne Wilson)
Murder by Numbers isn't a mystery -- we know whodunit right away -- the fun of it is in guessing how they did it, if they plan on doing it again, and whether or not they'll get caught. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Fantastica Daily (Staci Layne Wilson)
Empire Movies (Brendan Cullin)
King's Room (Paul Perkins)
Film Values/Family Values (H. Arthur Taussig)
Variety (Todd McCarthy)
Engrossing but psychologically shallow tale. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Variety (Todd McCarthy)
Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
Isn't a great movie, but it's a perfectly acceptable widget. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Washington Post (Ann Hornaday)
ShowBIZ Data (--)
Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
Even with Bullock working overtime to centre her performance and the film in reality, it's the exceptional, multi-layered performances of Gosling and Pitt that give the movie its tension and edge. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Jam! Movies (Louis B. Hobson)
Boxoffice Magazine (Bridget Byrne)
Sandra Bullock, despite downplaying her good looks, carries a little too much ain't- she-cute baggage into her lead role as a troubled and determined homicide cop to quite pull off the heavy stuff. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (Bridget Byrne)
At-A-Glance Film Reviews (--)
Jigsaw Lounge (Neil Young)
ViewLondon (Matthew Turner)
San Francisco Examiner (Joe Leydon)
Adds up to less than the sum of its better parts. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at San Francisco Examiner (Joe Leydon)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
A respectable but uninspired thriller that's intelligent and considered in its details, but ultimately weak in its impact. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Sue Pierman)
While there are some nifty twists, they're laced with corny dialogue, trite stereotypes and B-movie-grade effects, which eat away at the film's slick, sinister veneer. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Sue Pierman)
Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Fans of CSI and Patricia Cornwell novels are not likely to find Murder by Numbers any more convincing than the Simpson jury found blood tracings. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Detroit Free Press (Terry Lawson)
Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
What's missing in Murder by Numbers is any real psychological grounding for the teens' deviant behaviour. Being latently gay and liking to read are hardly enough. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Globe and Mail (Liam Lacey)
Lawrence Journal-World (Jon Niccum)
There are times when the movie plays like a version of Alfred Hitchcock's Rope if the Jimmy Stewart role were replaced with the team from TV's C.S.I. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Lawrence Journal-World (Jon Niccum)
San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
You might think that people dumb enough to make a by-the-numbers movie about a murder would at least be smart enough not to call it Murder By Numbers . ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at San Jose Mercury News (Bruce Newman)
Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
There's nothing really wrong with Murder by Numbers -- it's just that you've seen it all before. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Seattle Times (Moira MacDonald)
Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
... It leaves you feeling that it could have been so much more. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Star-Democrat (Easton, MD) (Greg Maki)
Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
When Bullock is on screen, Murder by Numbers is as far away as a sleepwalker's gaze. But when Schroeder focuses on the teenagers, the film is wide awake, eye-to-eye with adolescent angst and anomie. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Philadelphia Inquirer (Carrie Rickey)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Schroeder is sometimes able to disguise his contempt for the material and elevate it into something serviceable (like Single White Female ). In Murder by Numbers , though, even Schroeder can't keep his own boredom from showing. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
CriminyPete.com (--)
Kvikmyndir.com (--)
ReelMovieCritic.com (David Speilman)
Cinema-Scene.com (David Perry)
Movielocity (Blake Kunisch)
Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)
Aside from the consistently creepy atmosphere that director Barbet Schroeder imparts to the picture, there's not much to like about Murder by Numbers . ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Los Angeles Daily News (Glenn Whipp)
Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)
If the film does have a saving grace, it's the pairing of up-and-coming actors Gosling and Pitt, who make their scenes watchable to the point that you almost want their characters to get away with the crime. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Deseret News, Salt Lake City (Jeff Vice)
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Plays like Matlock or Columbo at twice the length and half the energy level. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
Popkorn Junkie (--)
Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Some will not like this film because it doesn't offer easy answers. It doesn't have the usual, pat Hollywood ending. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Laramie Movie Scope (Robert Roten)
Denver Post (Steven Rosen)
Murder By Numbers plays like two separate movies awkwardly joined together. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Denver Post (Steven Rosen)
Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
plods through its psychological murder-mystery trappings like well-worn clothes, and the edges are definitely starting to look frayed ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Q Network Film Desk (James Kendrick)
Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
A slow-moving police-procedural thriller that takes its title all too literally. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Salt Lake Tribune (Sean Means)
Palo Alto Online (Jeanne Aufmuth)
Hollywood Report Card (Ross Anthony)
Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
The script is too mainstream and the psychology too textbook to intrigue. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Palo Alto Weekly (Jeanne Aufmuth)
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Todd Anthony)
Murder by Numbers just doesn't add up. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Todd Anthony)
Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
There is indeed a murder - two of them, in fact - and the movie proceeds strictly by the numbers laid down long ago in some by-the-book Hollywood writing class. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Charlotte Observer (Lawrence Toppman)
The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
The real surprise, given the secondhand material, is that not everything proceeds by rote in Murder by Numbers. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at The New York Times (A.O. Scott)
San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
A near miss, a respectable but uninspired thriller that's intelligent and considered in its details, but ultimately weak in its impact. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at San Francisco Chronicle (Mick LaSalle)
Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Neither the crime nor its detection is especially interesting, and screenwriter Tony Gayton doesn't appear to be aiming for psychological insights. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Chicago Reader (Jonathan Rosenbaum)
Film Threat (Michael Dequina)
Doesn't necessarily make Murder by Numbers an awful film; it's certainly watchable, but it never escapes its paint-by-numbers design. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Film Threat (Michael Dequina)
SF, Horror and Fantasy Film Review
Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
Everything its title implies, a standard-issue crime drama spat out from the Tinseltown assembly line. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Mr. Brown's Movies (Michael Dequina)
The Massachusetts Daily Collegian (Johnny Donaldson)
...moviemaking by numbers. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at The Massachusetts Daily Collegian (Johnny Donaldson)
St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Half of Murder by Numbers is good, and it's not the half with Sandra Bullock. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at St. Paul Pioneer Press (Chris Hewitt (St. Paul))
Reel.com (Pam Grady)
Murder by Numbers is a perfect title, recalling the 'paint by numbers' faux-art form notable for its lack of originality and inspiration. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Reel.com (Pam Grady)
Boston Globe (Chris Fujiwara)
For much of its length, the film is plausible, if predictable and ponderous. Its strongest assets are its actors. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Boston Globe (Chris Fujiwara)
Citysearch (Dan Fazio)
As a hybrid teen thriller and murder mystery, Murder by Numbers fits the profile too closely. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Citysearch (Dan Fazio)
Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
A movie version of a paint-by-numbers picture. We can tell what it is supposed to be, but can't really call it a work of art. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Movie Parables (Michael Elliott)
San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
The movie has generic virtues, and despite a lot of involved talent, seems done by the numbers. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at San Diego Union-Tribune (David Elliott)
TV Guide Entertainment Network, Movie Guide
Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
The movie’s major and most devastating flaw is its reliance on formula, though, and it’s quite enough to lessen the overall impact the movie could have had. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Mark Reviews Movies (Mark Dujsik)
Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
In Murder by Numbers, though, even Schroeder can't keep his own boredom from showing. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Miami Herald (Rene Rodriguez)
Portland Oregonian (Kim Morgan)
Starts out dark, thrilling and inventive, then, regrettably, becomes sappy, mainstream and mundane. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Portland Oregonian (Kim Morgan)
Scott Mantz' Movie Reviews (Scott A. Mantz)
Mediasharx (Dustin Gast)
TV Guide's Movie Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Screen It! (Jim Judy)
About on par with any mediocre episode of most any TV show featuring a homicide detective. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Screen It! (Jim Judy)
Jam! Movies (Liz Braun)
Murder By Numbers is like a couple of mediocre TV-movie -of-the-week films clumsily stuck together. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Jam! Movies (Liz Braun)
Orlando Sentinel (Jay Boyar)
Doesn't add up to much. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Orlando Sentinel (Jay Boyar)
New York Times (A.O. Scott)
Follows well-worn paths of the cops-and-psycho-killer routine. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at New York Times (A.O. Scott)
TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
There's nothing blatantly wrong with it (except perhaps the red-assed baboon ex machina), but it's 100% shock-free and coasts to a formulaic conclusion. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at TV Guide (Maitland McDonagh)
Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
A sappy big-screen version of TV's ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Rolling Stone (Peter Travers)
The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
A moralizing thriller so listless that it plays out like a game of mouse and mouse. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at The Onion (A.V. Club) (Keith Phipps)
BeatBoxBetty.com (--)
Heroics aside, Murder By Numbers just doesn't add up. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at BeatBoxBetty.com (--)
Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
[Gayton's script] telegraphs every discovery and layers on the gloss of convenience. ...read the complete Murder by Numbers movie review at Toronto Star (Peter Howell)
Arrow in the Head ("The Arrow")
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