The Number 23

The Number 23 begins beautifully. The acting is excellent, the situation compelling, the cinematography gorgeous. But none of this saves the film from outstaying its welcome. There is an exact minute the movie becomes nothing more than excruciatingly dense exposition, like watching a lecture on film, and I am tempted to bring a stopwatch into it to discover if that minute relates in any way to the number 23, so that I can rest assured it was a self-conscious joke. I wish I could say it ran only 23 minutes longer than it should have, but I have a sneaking suspicion it ran on more like forty. The Number 23 suffers from a lot of good ideas that never exactly come together, and a mystery with a reveal so obtuse and verbose you flash back to Fred, Daphne, and Velma and lament fondly that they got it over with so, so much quicker.

Hrmm... where to start. Matthew Libatuque is about as good of a cinematographer as there is working, and for the visually inclined out there, this one is a feast. Jim Carrey.... hrmm... Jim Carrey. I like it when comic actors play dark, as long as it's done well. He does this one well, but he's still the wrong actor for the role. There's a difference between being dark and playing dark, and unfortunately, he was just playing. This one was SCREAMING for Colin Farrell, but instead we get Jim Carrey proving that he really can act. But as for the movie, I can simply say it's a mixed bag, and the fault there goes to Joel Schumacher. He gets credit for being a mainstream director who likes the dark material, but once again (*ahem* 8mm) he either doesn't understand the material, or isn't willing to stick up for it's integrity in the face of his big studio bosses. Either way, David Fincher could have done wonders with this, or Christopher Nolan, or any of the other directors who have a talent with solid, dark material. The ending is the ultimate fault of the movie. Obviously, some suspension of disbelief is required for something like this, but the ending so strains credulity that it ruins some otherwise noteworthy work in the rest of the film. There are so many excellent directions this could have gone, but Schumacher opted for clever, and that relegates this one to little more than a renter.

"Fate" leads Walter Sparrow to come in possession of a mysterious novel that has eerie similarities and connections to his life, all based around the number 23. As the story unfolds in real life and fiction, Sparrow must figure out his connection to the book and how the story will eventually end. The Number 23 offers an intriguing premise that is undone by a weak execution. The film just failed on many different levels which is pretty disappointing because it held so much potential. The screenplay was probably the worst part about it. It was filled with silly sequences and laughable dialog that just killed the mood of the movie. It seemed like the screenwriter had a good idea, he just didn't know how to develop it to stretch over a ninety minute running time. The second half of the film was running low on ideas, the twist was pretty obvious and the ending was awful. Joel Schumacher is responsible for one of the worst movies ever and he did redeem himself a little with Phone Booth and a few other films but The Number 23 reminds me that he's still capable of making a stinker. He has the movie drenched in style but he just can't get a good focus. He moves the film at a clunky and slow pace. He switches from reality to what's actually happening in the book which quickly got annoying. The actual book in the film that's titled "The Number 23" is an awful detective story and the audience gets stuck listening to Carrey narrate it which just bored me to tears. When Carrey is finally done with book, we get stuck watching him run around trying to solve the mystery. At this point, the audience has lost interest and there is no real tension. We impatiently wait for the movie to reach it's horrible ending and unconvincing explanation before celebrating that film has finally finished. The acting was mostly average and pretty forgettable. Jim Carrey was clearly just sleepwalking through his performance and he didn't even seem to be trying. He was either completely over the top in some scenes or just very wooden. His narration was a complete bore to listen to and he put no life inside his character. Virginia Madsen did the best she could with a limited role but she needs to pick better scripts. Logan Lerman was pretty bland as was Danny Huston. Overall, The Number 23 was an awful thriller that offered more laughs than suspense or thrills. Rating 3/10