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Joel Schumacher's The Number 23

by Audrey Califf
02/22/2007

The Number 23 has all the apparent makings of a great psychological thriller, but the only real thrill is checking your watch.

The film opens with Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey), a mild-mannered dog catcher, discussing the recent role of fate in his life. Through a series of coincidental events, Walter's wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen), buys him a self-published manuscript entitled The Number 23.

The author of the book calls himself "Fingerling" after the title character of the first book he ever read as a child. In a series of shaky flashbacks in which the film's main characters enact the words of the book, we learn that Fingerling was a detective who was introduced to the number 23 by a "suicide blonde" driven mad by the number.

It's not long before Walter becomes obsessed with the obscure notion that the number 23 controls his fate as well. He sees similarities between his life and the author's and discovers that the numbers surrounding him - his birthday, social security number, driver's license number - all add up to 23. Walter begins to seek the book's author in search of answers.

The flashbacks have the cheap, washed out look seen in recent films such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, and the overacting and cheesy music disrupt the flow of the other scenes.

Though the discolored cinematography is meant to create an eerie feel, it comes off as comedic since the dialogue has all the artistic subtlety of a midday telenovela. This exaggerated style of acting is the typical range for Carrey, but he is far outshone in these scenes by Madsen, who portrays Fingerling's alluring lover, Fabrizia.

Once you get past the flashbacks, however, there are a few semi-predictable plot twists and turns that entertain. It is telling that the greatest mystery of the film is why a man so obsessed with the manuscript would take a span of four days to read a book that doesn't amount to more than 150 pages.

The film's resolution, also shot in flashbacks, drags on too long - by about 23 minutes. While there is no shortage of blood, suicide, and butcher knives, the movie falls short as a suspenseful thriller, lacking any jumpy moments or startling coincidences of which to speak.