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The Number 23 - Spoiler Free

Let me admit to something now. My years spent working with Ground Zero Media has given me an altered perspective on the suggestive powers of numbers. You spend enough time with cases revolving around Numerology and symbolism and you do indeed start to see patterns. How you interpret these patterns affects your view on the seen and unseen world. As for myself, I am not certain how much credence I give the numbers themselves, but I won't deny the effect these numbers have on some people and the lengths they will go to rebuke or support said number sequence. As such, I went into the newest Jim Carrey film, The Number 23, with a relatively open and curious mind. (Okay, to be fair I was only open minded to the concept of 23, as those who know me know that I am not a fan of the star or the director Joel “nipples on the Batsuit” Schumacher).

So, just what is 23 and why make a movie from a basic prime number?

Well, because as a concept, 23 is pretty dang interesting and slightly unnerving. Here is a small sample of 23s occurrences in nature and history: Human somatic cells have 23 pairs of chromosomes. Earth's axis is at a 23 degree angle (technically it is 23.5 degree… But, 5 is just 2+3, see how this works)? There is no 23rd Chapter to the Book of Revelation. (This suggests that the world ends at 23). The USA performed 23 tests of atomic detonations at Bikini Atoll in the South Pacific. The Unabomber allegedly hurt or killed 23 people. 2 divided by 3 = .666, the Number of the Beast. 23 is the first prime number in which both digits are prime numbers and add up to another prime number. Caesar was stabbed 23 times when he was assassinated. Okay, so now you can see, at least on paper, how this subject is ripe for exploration and exploitation within Hollywood.

Enter Jim Carrey and Joel Schumacher.

The Number 23 purports to be a tale of supernatural obsession. Yet at its core, The Number 23 is simply asking that ages old question... Do we control our own fate, or, does fate control us? Jim Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, a simple and happy family man who makes his living as a city animal control officer. This simple life is thrown completely upside down when a series of seemingly harmless events places him in contact with a work of fiction titled, The Number 23. Sparrow quickly learns that he has frightening similarities to the book’s main character, Fingerling, a private detective who gets sucked into a bizarre series of murders and suicides all revolving around the number 23. Sparrow’s wife Agatha, played amiably by Virginia Madsen, acts as Sparrows sounding board and support... Though all she is really able to muster are calming phrases like “I love you,” followed by, “you’re insane”. As Sparrow sinks further and further into madness, I can’t help but wonder why Agatha Sparrow doesn’t just toss the damn book in the fire. Especially when she learns the secret that we, the audience, must sit for another 45 minutes to learn.

No, I was not a big fan of this film.

The performances, while decent, are not at all what both Carrey and Madsen are capable of turning in. As I’ve said before, I am not the biggest Carrey fan, but even I know he can turn a good dramatic role. (Such as his work in The Majestic or The Truman Show). Carrey’s rather quick slip into wacky conspiracy land feels forced. Non-crazy, dog-catching Sparrow was a more interesting (or at least entertaining) character. Madsen, who is having a well-deserved resurgence of late, seems to be phoning this one in... Perhaps she will shine brighter in The Astronaut Farmer. Although I’d like to see her take a stab at edgier parts, not one supportive wife after another. (Course you could argue that is what got her lost in obscurity in the 90s to begin with). The rest of the supporting cast does little to raise or lower the quality of the movie. None of the actors involved seem all the vested in the film. It is as if they all know they are in a mundane supernatural thriller that would have been more comfortable during the Millennium craze of the late 1990s.

What about Schumacher?

Like the actors, he is simply phoning it in. For all my berating of the nippled one, I know he can turn in a tight thriller, see Falling Down as a prime example. With The Number 23, Joel stoops to some cheap camera tricks borrowed from the Wachowski Brothers (with a sprinkle of Paul WS Anderson) in an attempt to generate that creepiness vibe that is inherent with supernatural thrillers... Which would have worked more had The Number 23 turned out to be a supernatural thriller. I think that, above all, is my main issue with this film. It simply cannot decide what type of movie it wants to be. One moment, the audience to taken on a ride within the occult nature of numerology that suggests that we are merely pawns in a great cosmic game... Only to spin on its axis (which is set at 23.5 degrees...oooo) and tell the viewer that we alone control our destiny and anyone who thinks otherwise is crazy... Till finally coming to a painfully insulting Scooby-Doo ending, complete with “ta-da” style reveal that would make M. Night Shyamalan roll his eyes...

But at least it didn’t have any nipples... Unless you count a shirtless Jim Carrey...

GeekintheCity.com gives The Number 23... 2 out of 5 Critical Hits, but only because it is fun to see how many times the filmmakers snuck a 23 in the frame...