Barbet Schroeder directs Sandra Bullock, Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt in this psychological thriller where two high school students attempt the “perfect murder” but one tough but damaged detective sees through their scheme.

Sandy playing against type and she doesn’t do an awful job of it. There’s one punch pulled. If they really wanted to make her complex, up the stakes and define what a walking disaster area her tough cookie is then she should have fucked her teen suspect when it was there on a plate. Baby faced Babyduck with blue balls from Bullock! That aside… More a How-You-Catch-Em than a Whodunnit. Went down pretty easy as multiplex filler back in the day and went down pretty easy again as a Saturday night special. I use the “special” word with caution. There ain’t particularly anything groundbreaking here. The Leopold and Loeb stuff has been explored by better movies decades ago. Pitt and Gosling are only adequate composites at this nascent stage of their respective careers. There’s little memorable about Murder By Number but it does the job with minimal flair. The title ends up being prophetic.

5

Perfect Double Bill: The Vanishing (1992)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/