Murder by Numbers

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Murder by Numbers
Image:Murder by Numbers film.jpg
Directed by	Barbet Schroeder
Produced by	Barbet Schroeder
Written by	Tony Gayton
Starring	Sandra Bullock, Ben Chaplin, Ryan Gosling
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	19 April 2002 (USA)
Running time	120 min
Language	English
Budget	~ US$50,000,000

Murder by Numbers is a 2002 action/psychological thriller film. Directed by Barbet Schroeder, it is quite loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb case, the Columbine High School massacre, and the Dartmouth Murders.

Contents 1 Cast 2 Synopsis 3 Possible influences 3.1 The Leopold and Loeb case 3.2 The Columbine Shootings 3.3 The Dartmouth Murders 4 External links

Cast

• Cassie Mayweather - Sandra Bullock
• Sam Kennedy - Ben Chaplin
• Richard Haywood - Ryan Gosling
• Justin Pendleton - Michael Pitt
• Ray Feathers - Chris Penn
• Captain Rod Cody - R. D. Call
• Asst. D.A. Al Swanson - Tom Verica
• Lisa Mills - Agnes Bruckner

Synopsis

When a dead woman is found in the woods near the river, homicide detectives Cassie Mayweather and Sam Kennedy are assigned to the case. Mayweather's investigation leads her to Justin Pendleton and Richard Haywood, two teenagers who want to commit the perfect murder. Haywood happens to have a strong alibi, however; Mayweather suspects that there is more to Haywood's perfect story.

She digs in her own haunted past to find something to help her solve this crime. She breaks away from her partner and the other detectives to work on her own theories, which jeopardizes her job.

Haywood and Pendleton have developed a plan that shows their loyalty to one another. They are going to plan the perfect murder — one that could end in their own deaths.

Possible influences

The Leopold and Loeb case

On May 21, 1924, 14-year old Bobby Franks was kidnapped and beaten to death with a chisel wrapped in electrical tape. His body was found dumped in a watery ditch under a railroad bridge.

There were a pair of eyeglasses that were found at the crime scene which led to a nineteen year old boy, Nathan Leopold. When the detectives questioned the boy he explained that he must have dropped them when he was bird watching. His alibi for the time of the murder was his good friend Richard Loeb who was eighteen. The alibi was tight until the detectives questioned Loeb. He told them everything that had happened.

People wanted to know why these intelligent boys would commit such a heinous act. The answer was simple yet twisted. They had done it out of pure excitement. They wanted to do something exciting and something that would make their twisted fantasies come true. They assumed that they were smarter and they thought that they could outwit the detectives.

The Columbine Shootings

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were young teens who shot to death twelve students and a teacher at Columbine High School. Twenty-three people were also wounded before Harris and Klebold took their own lives.

The Dartmouth Murders

Two teenage boys had a plan to rob and kill for over a year. They wanted to raise money to pay for a trip to Australia. They ended up murdering their victims. They claimed that crime was an easier, faster and more exciting way to make money than just a normal job.

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