El número 23

I knew when I bought THE NUMBER 23 on DVD that I haven't to expect too much after reading the critics on this link. I watched it with high attention till the end and I have to say that it worked on a fair level as an average thriller. There are some points in this film that weren't logic for me. Anyway, if you have really nothing to do this one offers many mysteries and puzzles to solve but not great suspense. There were perhaps some unnecessary bloody scenes. I was very positive surprised seeing Jim Carrey giving a great and respectable performance in a thriller. I cannot share some opinions that he was misplaced here because he has no doubt a great talent and I can imagine him in other roles of this genre. And director Joel Schuhmacher made finally a better movie than his last ones. Final number: 6/10.

The trouble with many actors that do only a particular type of film, is that once they go outside of their box, it's just too weird. This is true to Jim Carrey. We've become so accustomed to his comedy flicks that this throws us off guard. I kept waiting for him to crack jokes, but they never came. This is a true drama/thriller that keeps you guessing until the end.

Carrey plays a man who starts reading a book that more and more sound like it was written just for him. Then strange occurrences of the number 23 keep popping up and the story gets weirder and weirder. But trust me, stick with it--the twist is a jaw dropper.

I have to say it was a bit odd to see Carrey in the sex scenes-- I kept waiting for him to jump up and say "ssssssmokin!!!" I thought overall it was a great movie.

I like Jim Carrey, not because he is a comedian, but because he emerged as a serious actor in attempting to select good roles that will give him the variety of dimensions to display his talent.

The story of the movie is about a happy married man Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) and his wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen) and son Robin (Logan Lerman). One day as a gift his wife presents him with a novel The Number 23. On reading it Walter realizes the similarities the novel has with his life. The novel turns out to be a thriller with a murder mystery. Walter gets engaged into the paranoia of number 23 and tries to find a running parallel in real life to identify the characters and solve the murder mystery. Like a detective Walter traces the murderer and unknown writer of the novel. One clue leads to another, and another – until the end, the real murderer is exposed. I won't tell you the secret. Just a clue that the novel is written by someone named Topsy Eret.

The narrative of the movie is a bit puzzling, and I think the Director Joel Schumacher must have intentionally worked on it that way. Why I say this is because after the movie got over, I had the urge to see the movie again to understand the early half properly, and get more clarity in why the story is told in this manner and how the events are unfolded. But will I go and see the movie again, not really.

The movie is good, but not brilliant. It eclipse on the fringe areas of brilliance but falls shorts due to its direction. In the past Joel Schumacher has struggled to make commercially successful movie even with a good storyline on his hand. Here too he flounders. The saving grace of this thriller is one and only – Jim Carrey, who carries the whole burden of this movie on his shoulder, and makes us believe in the magical number 23.

After seeing the movie, I remembered my Dad who has paranoia of number 5. The amazing past time my Dad and Mom together had was when they found ways to add, subtract, multiply and divide any number to arrive at an answer that was 5. It is a unique ability and obviously paranoia. But it is amusing.

The same paranoia has been presented here with a mysterious thriller storyline. To some extend the director achieves success to telling us this novel story of number 23.

Jim Carrey looks haggard with age, but has played the character brilliantly. Virginia Madsen and Logan Lerman have acted decently but nothing worth historic to mention here.

Go and see it if you are a Jim Carrey fan or if you have a fascination for NUMBERS, both ways you will enjoy this movie.

(Stars 6 out of 10)

Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) is a family-man married with Agatha Sparrow (Virginia Madsen), and works catching dogs in the Department of Animal Control and has a teenager son very close to his wife and him. On the day of his birthday, he is bitten by a dog and comes late to meet Agatha. While waiting for him, Agatha buys a detective book with a novel about the mystery around the number 23 in a bookstore as a gift to Walther. He becomes captivated with the story and obsessed with the number 23, finding many coincidences with his own life, and he decides to find the author, believing the story is about him. His further investigation discloses a mysterious situation that makes Walther paranoid.

The dark "The Number 23" is a great tale of obsession, paranoid and redemption. The story and the characters are very well developed, the final twist is totally unexpected and the film has a stylish cinematography and edition, with intense use of dark colors. There are stunning sequences, like for example when the boy meets the widow dead on her bed, or the meeting of Fingerling with Suicide Blonde. Jim Carrey is perfect and Virginia Madsen is still a very beautiful and sexy woman and has a great performance. In spite of having a moralist conclusion, it works and leaves a magnificent message of justice and moral standards that are almost forgotten in the present days. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Número 23" ("Number 23")

It's interesting to see Jim Carrey in such a role, I think he did a good job. When I watched it for the first time, I was a teenager and I was amazed, it's not a "wow" movie but I think you will enjoy watching it.