The 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.

I remember when this film came out in 2007 but for some reason I didn't see it at the time, then i stumbled across it many years later in a cheap dvd store so grabbed it, I like Jim Carrey as a comic actor but as this was billed as a horror i was intrigued to see how he'd fare in this.

Carrey stars as Walter Sparrow, a rather goofy, likeable animal control officer, and when he is bitten by a dog called Ned (which Sparrow comically refers to as nasty evil dog) it caused him to be late while meeting his wife in a bookstore, she then advises him to read a fairly old, scrappy looking book called "The Number 23", by Topsy Krets, so he does and is soon enthralled by the book, noting similarities between his own life, including the name/nickname of the books main character, "Fingerling".

The more Walter reads of the story he comes across a character called "the suicide blonde", who explains that the number 23 is cursed and appears everywhere around her, as he reads this, Walter too becomes obsessed with the number, as well as the main character, who he is convinced is somehow about him, his wife dismisses the idea but his son seems to agree with him and Walter is determined to find out more as well as track down the elusive Topsy Kretts, who it seems has no other body of work except for the novel Walter is reading, and a clerk at a bookstore, finds no information on Kretts.

As the story unfolds, it appears there is more to the whole story than meets the eye, as dark turns and twists occur, and we get an insight into Walters past, and just why he thinks the novel is somehow based on his life.

The film for me definitely lost a bit of steam as it went on, the constant flashes of Walter, as fingerling interacting with characters in the book became somewhat distracting after a while, and the more you learned about 23 it kind of took away the mystery, however the film was enjoyable in parts, and I did enjoy Carreys performance, even though I kept thinking he'd go full on rubberface mode (he didn't), it bought some humour into a somewhat bleak story.

Overall this film wasn't that good, but it was decent and I did thoroughly enjoy the first half hour or so, and I don't regret watching it I wouldn't go too far out of my way to endorse either.

6/10 Very mild recommendation.

I can't say that either Jim Carrey or Joel Schumacher have done anything impressive lately, but they do an okay job here. The number 23 is strangely entertaining. With its moody tone, its claustrophobic and haunting photography, its convoluted storytelling, and a lot of walls defaced with black ink, the movie frequently resembles John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness. This one is not quite as creative, and even though it occasionally gets clumsy, the film is fairly intriguing and might be worth checking out if you like scary thrillers.

Jim Carrey is Walter Sparrow, a mild mannered dog catcher who has a nice family and a dull life. On Chrismas week, his wife buys him a strange memoir entitled 'The number 23'. Sparrow is a little sceptic at first, but once he starts to read he quickly gains interest, and is surprised to discover that the story has remarkable resemblance to his own life. One aspect in particular has gotten his attention. Sparrow starts to notice the number 23 itself appear everywhere, in dates, names, times... It gets him quite excited. Soon however, this hysteria will take him down a dark road as he seeks to find out the truth about what is really going on. What does the number mean? who wrote the novel? and what does it have to do with him?

The funny thing about the movie, is that the whole 23 concept ends up being kind of eluding and irrelevant. It feels like little more than a plot element to throw the viewer off track so we cannot figure out the movie before it is ready to give us the climactic twist. Depending on how focused you are on the picture, it may or may not work. The ending is strangely predicable in a way, although not too blatantly.

I can't say much for the acting (esspecially Carrey) but the cinematography and music are quite eccentric. There are times when the Number 23 feels like a cross between a Jazzy scored film-noir and a comic book.

I guess in the end, the movie could use a little work, but of course nothing is perfect. Try it and see what it does for you. It's not 2 bad3 .

There has been a great deal of critical scorn directed at 'The Number 23', which almost made me rethink my decision to see it, despite finding the concept very enticing, being impressed by the promotional materials, and generally liking Joel Schumacher as a director (yes, Batman and Robin was awful, but he's directing some very good films like The Client, Phone Booth and The Lost Boys) And after seeing the finished product, I find myself asking why the knives are out for the film. Now, I'm not saying this is a brilliant film, because it isn't. It's rather easy to guess the plot twists, the script does tend to patronise the viewer and the final segment of the film casually abandons the central premise in favour of a more generic 'mystery' storyline. But I found quite a few things to like about the movie, such as strong performances from Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen, very stylish direction and (for most of the movie)a genuine undercurrent of tension as the events unfold. It's not going to be remembered as a highlight on the careers of anyone involved, but if you enjoyed conspiracy theory novels such as The Da Vinci Code or shows like the X-Files, you are more likely to see past the critics and enjoy this film.

Final Score 6 (which is 2x3)/10

The Number 23 (2007) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a family that becomes fascinated by a unique book. The husband as he reads the book finds he can uniquely relate to many aspects of the storyline and begins thinking the book is about him. His wife tries to keep him from ruining their family with his obsession but the more he digs the more he appears to be losing his mind.... This movie is directed by Joel Schumacher (A Time to Kill) and stars Jim Carey (Ace Venture), Virginia Madsen (Candyman), Danny Huston (The Aviator) and Corey Stoll (Ant-man). The storyline for this is very clever and intricate. I absolutely loved seeing Carey in this role and don't think they could have picked a better leading actor. The script was very good and Carey delivered a very relatable character. The murder mystery aspects were fairly intense and you have doubts right up till the end of the movie. I also loved how this movie concluded, very smart. Overall I think this movie is a little underrated and deserves a solid 8/10 score and I'd strongly recommend seeing this once.