“The Number 23 ”
Directed by: Joel Schumacher. Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Lynn Sparrow.
Jim Carrey continues to impress in the psychological thriller "The Number 23". Following deep and nuanced dramatic performances in "Man on the Moon", "The Majestic" and "The Truman Show", Carrey takes on another serious character.
In the film he plays Walter Sparrow. He’s a dog catcher who leads a pretty normal life. But that all changes on his birthday when his wife buys him a mysterious book. The book's called "The Number 23" and it chronicles an obsession and it's affect on several lives.
The author of the book describes himself as a detective who gets mixed up in a case. At the scene of a suicide attempt, Detective Fingerling meets Suicide Blonde (Lynn Sparrow). Her walls are scrawled over with writing. She's completely taken over by the number 23 - she sees it everywhere- in everything. Detective Fingerling inherits the girl’s obsession and develops his own fixation on the number.
As Walter reads about the Detective, he starts to see similarities to his own life. It's not a perfect match but there are enough consistencies to cause alarm. The obsession catches Walter in its grip and it becomes a battle between book and reader. His wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen) brushes the coincidences off, but their son Robin (Logan Lerman) gets wrapped up in it all and tries to help his father get to the bottom of it.
"The Number 23" keeps you guessing throughout. Carrey's performance is by far the soul of the film, and through it, we get a clear sense of the psychological pressures his character experiences. It's an easy film to get caught up in, so don't be surprised if you suddenly notice the number "23" everywhere after having watched it.
On a personal side note- in a film full of surprises, one of the biggest was the fact that Michael Jordan wasn't brought up. For me, and I imagine for a lot of people, he's connected to "23" and I’m shocked he wasn't mentioned in some way. It's not at all important to the plot of course- I just couldn't help but mention it.
Story: B
Acting: B
Visuals: B
Originality: B
Enjoyability: B
Overall: B
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