The prankish murder antics of two high school students, Richard (Ryan Gosling) and Justin (Michael Pitt) become psychological filler in this interesting character study. Cassie Mayweather (Sandra Bullock), a crime scene investigator tormented by flashbacks of her own near death experience, searches for truth, justice and a casual roll on the carpet. She'll do anyone for awhile, as long as they don't get too close. But her love-em and leave-em attitude creates tension among her co-workers and threatens her professional credibility on the police force.

Equipped with badge and baggage, Cassie, fondly known around the water cooler as the Hyena, pursues all the obvious clues. However, her efforts get thwarted on every side by planted evidence, iron-clad alibis and political intervention.

Her "hottie" new partner, Sam (Ben Chaplin), becomes a reluctant beneficiary of Cassie's amorous assaults. He notices that Cassie keeps her shirt on during sex. He knows she's hiding something, and it's not a pair of 38s. But he quickly learns that sharing beer and body fluids doesn't give him the right to spend the night. After a playful bout of carpet spotting, Sam gets kicked out faster than a one-night-stand at a law enforcement convention.

Meanwhile, the murderous misfits continue planting bits of evidence: a size 12-D shoe, a strand of fiber, and a baboon hair. The boys brilliantly design each item to condemn the school's janitor, a loathsome creature involved in dealing drugs, watching porn and keeping a baboon. The Richard and Justin relationship ­- whatever that might be ­- gets tested when a young girlfriend arrives on the scene. Cassie smells a rat when the janitor offs himself -- and Cassie's boss demands a psychological evaluation when Cassie continues investigating the closed case.

Will these killer kids get away with murder? Will Cassie learn to accept the future by embracing the past? Will she uncover the secret to avoiding carpet burns?

Murder By Numbers may be a little disconnected, a little improbable, a little over the edge, but the characters hold the story together well and give it credibility. Everyone did a great job, and Sandra, as an edgy, standoffish creature obsessed with the present as much as the past, never looked better. I give this one a "B."

Dixie says: This movie depicts one of my favorite themes: high crimes in high school, where students learn the entertainment value of murder, and pop tests become real killers.

How does someone get stabbed 17 times and not die? The perp must have been an inefficient stabber. But Cassie ended up with a nice scar grouping.

In keeping with the Murder By Numbers theme, I'm revealing the five reasons I like this movie:

5. Ben Chaplin….Dreamy
4. I didn't know rich kids got bored.
3. It shows that looks sometimes deceive.
2. I love surprise endings.
1. Sandra Bullock, in this movie and in real life, proves you don't need a penis to be smart.

I give it a BB for Bullock and Ben.

Don & Dixie Mitchell

Don and Dixie perform stand-up comedy for a variety of clubs in Texas and Louisiana. Recently, Dixie placed in the quarter finals of Ed McMahon's Next Big Star comedy contest. Don, a nationally published freelancer, writes comedy, poetry, and articles dealing in country themes. Don and Dixie also write comedy skits and amusing movie review articles, including "Family Fun at the Movies" at simplejoy.org.

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