Murder by Numbers

Sandra Bullock stars as Cassie Mayweather, a tough (though apparently not that tough, as she gets smacked around twice by the rather spindly Ryan Gosling) cop matching wits with a couple of Leopold and Loeb type teenage thrill killers. The picture is at its best when Cassie plays cat and mouse with the young culprits. But writer Tony Gayton, director Barbet Schroeder, and Bullock herself (who produced) cannot resist larding it up with a tedious and distracting back story for Cassie. This "tragic" history purports to explain why Cassie is so mean (her colleagues call her the "hyena") but you can feel the energy leak out of the theater every time the movie stops in its tracks to muddle about in Carrie's psyche. They should have allowed Cassie to be just a smart, resourceful investigator who loves the thrill of the chase; any male star playing the role would have demanded it. Apparently, because she's a woman, Cassie must have some dark reason for her obsessions. That's pretty sexist for a picture starring one of the top female stars today.