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Murder by numbers

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Movie propaganda

Homicide detective Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock), a crime scene specialist on the trail of two high school students, Richard Haywood (Ryan Gosling) and Justin Pendleton (Michael Pitt) who may have committed the perfect crime. The students believe that together with Richard's cunning nature and Justin's intellect they have created the "perfect" criminal mind and can elude the law at will.

Known in the department for her ability to solve cases with her gut instincts and take-no-prisoners style, Cassie is saddled with an inexperienced new partner, Sam Kennedy (Ben Chaplin) who plays it strictly by the book. The homicide detectives must find a way to work together as they uncover a trail of shrewdly concealed evidence that links a murder to the boys.

Target demographic movie keyword propaganda

Film crime teen high school forensics homicide murder detective police

Persons of interest

Sandra Bullock .... Cassie Mayweather
Ryan Gosling .... Richard Haywood
Michael Pitt .... Justin Pendleton
Agnes Bruckner .... Lisa
Chris Penn .... Ray
RD Call .... Rod
Ben Chaplin .... Sam Kennedy
Tom Verica .... Al Swanson
Krista K Carpenter .... Olivia Lake
Joe La Piana .... FBI Agent
Tony Gayton .... Screenwriter
Barbet Schroeder .... Director

Cinematic intelligence sources

Castle rock Entertainment * Warner Bros * Roadshow Films

Intelligence analyst

Special Agent Matti

Theatrical report

Movie by numbers.

The title is based on Paint by numbers, a board covered with marks containing numbers. The numbers correspond to different coloured paints (included) which "anyone" can paint onto the board and produce a genuine oil painting which looks like something recognisable. It has come to mean any task which can be completed just by following a set of instructions (no thinking required!). The premise is that you can murder someone and get away with it just by reading up on forensic techniques (or watching too many murder mystery movies). Unfortunately, Tony Gayton and Barbet Schroeder have used the same technique to make their film, giving you the semblance of a murder thriller movie without any of the true substance.