The Number 23
Review by Todd Hertz | posted 2/23/2007
 1 of 4
The Number 23 should be a provocative psychological thriller. It should be a good movie. It has an intriguingly creepy premise. It has a stylized (albeit disjointed and inconsistent) look and tone. And it has good performances—especially by Jim Carrey in his first dark, thriller role. You want to like it as you watch it.
But when it's all over, it's ultimately unsatisfying. It's not that the film lacks anything. But in fact, it's the opposite. It has too much. Of everything. Directed by Joel Schumacher (Phone Booth, Batman & Robin), The Number 23 tries to carry too many themes, fit into too many genres and tell too many stories. Its promise is drowned out by a din of various themes, moods and storylines. Its thrills and tension are dampened by boring scenes of too much talking and repetition.
Jim Carrey as Walter Sparrow, obsessed with the number 23
At the center, obviously, is the number 23. The movie plays off a seemingly long-established numerological theory (called the 23 Enigma) that the number 23 plays some mythical significance in the universe. After all, the human body has 46 chromosomes (23 from each parent). Geometry is based on 23 natural laws. The Earth's axis is tilted 23.5 degrees (and the .5 is simply two plus three). And like 13, the number 23 is often associated with bad luck, tragedy and death. It's cursed, some say, and can be linked to notorious historical figures and tragic events. For instance, the World Trade Center was attacked on 9/11/2001 (9+11+2+0+0+1 = 23).
As many believers in the 23 Enigma find (reportedly including William S. Burroughs), once you start noticing the coincidences of where the number shows up, it becomes an obsession. It's seemingly everywhere. Is it because the number has some secret control of your life? Or is it because you are simply finding what you want to find?
Theses are the intriguing questions that set up The Number 23. Jim Carrey plays a pet detective—OK, a dog catcher—named Walter Sparrow who reads a book (about a detective) that his wife (Virginia Madsen) stumbles on in a used bookshop. Written by the mysterious Topsy Kreets, the book tells the story of Fingerling (also played by Carrey), a detective who is pulled into a world of obsession and paranoia after a suicidal woman reveals why her life has spiraled out of control: an obsession with the devious number 23. Like the young woman, Fingerling becomes obsessed with the number. He sees it in everything. And it seems to be leading him down a park path—toward murder.
Virginia Madsen plays Walter's wife
As Walter reads, he becomes convinced the book is about him. After all, his full name can be decoded to the number 23. And he was born on February 3. Soon, Walter too becomes obsessed with this number. And like Fingerling, he feels it's leading him down a dark path. He dreams of murder. His life spirals out of control. Can he solve the mystery of this book before it destroys him? Can he find the author to figure out its true meaning?
The basic story is compelling, but the movie tries to tell too much story. By weaving in so much back story (almost half of the movie is telling Fingerling's tale) and veering off in multiple directions (there's this bizarre dog and cemetery worker that keep popping up), the film has a hard time unraveling itself in the end. For instance, you know those Big Surprise sequences in thrillers that use flashbacks, voiceovers and background to explain the ending's shocking reveal? This one seems to last for almost 15 minutes. (The Sixth Sense's was about a minute.) And still, the explanation quickly falls apart when you stop to think about it.
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