MOVIE
REVIEW: The Number 23
07/23/07
You may wonder what can
possibly be said about a movie that’s about book, that’s
about a number. Well I can tell you that there may be a lot
that can be said, unfortunately, in this case, none of it is
good.
The Number 23 is about a nice simple guy, Walter (Jim
Carey), with a nice normal family, working in a nice normal
job. Then one day a series of events lead him to pick up his
wife late, and that’s were nice and normal comes to an end.
His wife happened upon a book, that she buys for him because
it happened to be his birthday. It begins to take over his
thoughts, his mind, and at times, it seems, his very soul.
He begins to see himself in the character, his childhood ,
his thoughts, even his desires. Even though they are very
different he begins to obsess about the similarities between
himself and the character with the strange pseudonym,
Fingerling . The character in the book then begins to embark
on an obsession of his own after meeting a mysterious
suicidal woman who’s own madness is surrounded by one number
that seams to encompass all things. The number 23. Soon the
character begins his decent into madness and paranoia, and
of course, predictably, his avid reader follows suit. The
number appears to be their curse, leading them to insanity
and even murder.
The movie itself wasn’t really made to captivate. It flowed
very oddly, and took turns and twists, but it wasn’t much
fun to keep up with. Jim Carey, an actor that I adore for
his comedy and spontaneity, really did not do much for me on
this one. His acting wasn’t bad , per se, but it was missing
his usual movie magic. Drama isn’t his usual genre, but he
has done it before, and pulled it off magnificently. Such
examples are Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine of the
Spotless mind. He was definitely off his game on this one,
and the only emotion he evoked was downright pity. The
ending is supposed to be a really big twist, but just as the
movie is reaching the crescendo , which should have
culminate in a big pop, it slowly deflated and fizzled out.
Instead of the big WOW , such as the one we got, courtesy of
The Sixth Sense, it was more like” Who are you trying to
kid?” Needless to say, I was not impressed and would only
recommend this movie to the newly dating couple ……
VIDEO:
Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
AUDIO:
English Dolby Digital 5.1
BONUS FEATURES:
Deleted Scenes.
A Contains 16 deleted scenes
including an alternate opening and alternate ending.
The Making of The Number 23:
Features 22 minutes of
interviews with the cast.
Creating the world of Fingerling:
Explains how the visual world
of detective Fingerling was created.
The 23 Enigma:
Explains some of the stigma surrounding the number 23.
How to find your life path number: For
numerology enthusiast show how to find your life path
number.
Commentary: Director Joel Schumacher explain
the film making process behind 23.
RATING BREAK DOWN:
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AUDIO |
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Review By Helen
helen@smartcine.com
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