You won't be disappointed!

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

In this film, two abnormal students decide to perpetrate the perfect crime, but things start to go wrong when an experienced detective mistrusts them. We have seen similar things before, the film is not exactly original in the subject it addresses, being clearly inspired by the crime committed by Leopold and Loeb, decades earlier.The movie never hides anything. From the beginning, we know almost everything that will happen and who the killer is. So there is no secret or mystery and it spoils the movie a lot. The relationship between the two boys is quite dysfunctional and even conveys the idea of a certain latent homosexuality between them. To make matters worse, they both correspond to two detestable juvenile stereotypes (one is the typical impersonal nerd, the other is the rich, idiot guy). In turn, the detective is the typical "macho girl".The actors are fairly decent in their work. Sandra Bullock is very competent and does a fine work. Ryan Gosling is good and gives his character an almost magnetic charisma in a deeply disturbing interpretation. Michael Pitt is not far behind in a clearly crazy character.Overall, it's a decent movie, but it loses a lot for the absence of mystery and for giving of tray everything that the public should wait to discover.

I was amazed to find that this particular picture had induced no fewer than 300 user reviews when I looked it up on IMDb. I find that really astonishing, particularly as the theme has been used before and – despite its top-scale budget – this movie was obviously designed for a TV rather than a theatrical presentation. The director loves close-ups. Even minor characters get the close-up treatment. Mind you, production values are more than TV can afford, although a vital special effects scene at the climax is so shoddily done, it must have seriously undermined the audience's reaction when projected on a cinema's huge screen. Nevertheless, although it could stand a little trimming, the movie does come across effectively thanks to very convincing acting from everyone in the cast from the leads to the minor players and even to the extras. Available on an excellent Warner DVD.

Übermensch (Beyond-Man), Wagner and Nietzsche were not enough for Mr.Tony Gayton, the writer of the script. He added the completely different subplot about Bullock's personal problems. It was like watching two merged movies. Anyway I saw some fine acting and a good cinematography: with a kind of "fan cut" the movie could arrive easily to 9/10. I'd delete completely Sam's character and I'd not done Richard (Gosling) the favor of letting him die by accident. My ending would have been on the double arrest after the failed double suicide. Getting to keep movie's duration under 100 minutes. I'd cut all flashbacks, too. Flashback is EVIL! I had fun with this movie. I will distribute the fan-edition through illegal channels. Keep in touch :)

An inferior and overlong film based on the Leopold/Loeb case, made famous by Hitchcock in his movie, Rope.Director Barbet Schroeder disappoints with the thrills and with some horrid CGI. Sandra Bullock is the tough, no nonsense cop out to get the killers but she has her own demons to fight.Ryan Gosling and Michael Pitt play the intellectual types showing their mental superiority in planning the perfect murder but still come across as high school spoilt rich kids, even though one is a geek and the other is a brat.Young Gosling shows early promise, Bullock is convincing in a straight dramatic role but the film is dull and a let down with some poor writing and plot points. How did Gosling guess Bullock was following him? Who leaked the information that the kids were being interrogated?