murder by number star ryan gosling and michael pitt a two rebellious high schoolers who be content on the perfect murder for the sake of overcome their shatter self esteem . sandra bullock play the heroic thorn in the way of their plan a det . cassie mayweather . this be nowhere near the traditional finger point murder mystery a the film graciously reveal the killer to u ( gosling and pitt ) . what the film do instead be concentrate on the purpose of their killing and if they have what it take to commit the perfect murder . the title itself be a rightfully choose one for various reason mainly be that the number in the title be the most vocal . the angle focus on the reason behind the heinous killing and although will haunt you with it chill dialogue ( especially from the callous boy ) and it doesn not fully live up explore the origin of what lead them to their killing frenzy . the character be rivet you have the good look rich kid richard ( ryan gosling ) and the intelligent but socially awkward justin ( michael pitt ) . in school and they pretend that they despise one another and and even share a liking towards the a classmate name lisa ( agnes bruckner ) and but off school they be ally and collaborate in a ritual in which murder be an escape to free the mind . sure the story involve the boy seem exciting and but it push in the background to a more mundane subplot involve det . mayweather ( bullock ) who assume their murder be because of discrimination ( hence the arrogant look of gosling ) and unexplained characteristic but manages to get it right . at first and the audience may despise cassie character due to the fact she very headstrong and not very supportive . she display dominance and control over her junior partner sam kennedy ( ben chaplin ) . even a he try to reason with her and he know it a battle he surely would not likely win . the reason behind her tyrant behavior stem back in which cassie be the sad victim of a crime that have leave a permanent mental scar on her . this side story do not have much of a place in this movie partially because it doesn not offer anything rivet with the main plot ( the boy murder spree ) . it also offer some development to bullock character in the movie but it only a half assed job and not very fulfil . i would have like it if they the diabolical student have a side story . the resource be right there in front of them for the perfect crime foil and the creative scheme for the boy to manipulate the cop with their phony evidence and lie just to get out of a potential life sentence in jail . despite the lopsided sub plot and the pointless real killer end and murder by number sport a strong performance by a great cast . sandra bullock be convince a the tough verbally remorseless cop who try to shift her inner pain to a more positive light . ben chaplin show his strength a the young detective who try every way to understand his partner and be able to fend off her occasional tyrannical put down . but the scene stealer be the devilish duo of michael pitt and ryan gosling a they keep you glue to their seat wait for what theyre go to do next . the chemistry of the boy be reminiscent to matt damon jude law in the talented mr. ripley .