The Number 23

Well colour me disappointed. I have been a fan of Jim Carrey for a while now and much as I liked his comedy work it is his forays into ‘serious’ acting that have impressed me, both the Truman show and Eternal Sunshine were wonderfully unique and well crafted films and in both Carrey was a key role in their success, rather than a hindrance. He has an earnest vulnerability and is able to incorporate his manic persona into characters more grounded in reality. In the Number 23 he plays Walter Sparrow an animal control officer whose life is turned around by a book he receives on his birthday. As he reads the book he finds strange parallels between the author’s life and his own, and when the book takes a disturbing turn the enigma of the number 23 and its impact on people’s lives begins to take hold.

Now normally a mystery thriller such as this would be right up my ally, the premise itself is intriguing and the film is stylishly shot at times, but unfortunately that’s about all it gets right. From the very start the film fails to get into any kind if rhythm and establish the characters as anything more than vague outlines. Jim Carrey phones in his performance for most of the film, his character not believable enough in his decent to madness and the reasons for this decent are so murkily explained that it is hard to connect or understand exactly why he becomes so obsessed with the book. Adding to this are the hammily filmed noir-ish scenes from the book which we see acted out featuring Carrey as the hero, however the tough-guy dialogue and over the top nature of these make is hard to take seriously and it is unclear if the clichéd nature of the story is intentional or not. Individually these faults are acceptable but in a film of this nature they pile up distracting from the good that lies buried beneath, little things jar in the mind such as the fact that Carrey takes to long to read the book he is obsessed with when it is a slim volume, easily read in one sitting. The whole mystery of the Number 23 is fumbled as well having little connection to the story or reason, still now I have no real idea what it means or why it causes the reaction it does in the characters.

I will admit the film kept me watching and the central mystery was enough to keep me engaged but the big reveal ending falls apart under closer inspection and leaves the whole film feeling like an exercise is style over substance. Ultimately this is a mis-step for all involved. Joel Schumacher continues to blow hot and cold and while the film looks nice enough he fails to get a grip on the characters of create any kind of narrative tension. The script is messy and inconsistent and lazy, opting for the big show rather than the meaningful insight. If you like a good mystery film then there may just about be enough here to warrant a rental but truthfully this is one to avoid, and personally I hope Carrey’s next serious role is chosen with a bit more care.

Un-engaging and incoherent this is a shadow of the film it could have been. Unsure of tone throughout the serious themes are oddly balanced against the pulpy style of the novel it revolves around and it ends up being neither an intelligent thriller nor a guilty pleasure.