“Number 23” – A Review

It is no coincidence that the release date of the movie “Number 23” is February 23. In fact, in the world of Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey), nothing about 23 is a coincidence: everything you see, hear and especially read relates to that damn number.

In director Joel Schumacher’s psychological thriller, Sparrow watches his entire life fall apart when, as an animal control officer, he encounters an animal he cannot control on the night of his birthday. This prompts his wife (Virginia Madsen) to buy him a tattered copy of “Number 23,” a novel about obsession, at a second-hand bookstore while she waits for him. As he reads the novel, he becomes convinced that somehow the author is writing about Sparrow’s past and that the disturbed detective in the book reflects his own life yet to come. His wife finds his obsession ridiculous, but Sparrow’s son Robin (Logan Lerman) agrees that his father has drawn similarities to the character and that the number 23 appears too many times to be a mere coincidence.

When Sparrow discovers that chapter 23 of the book is unwritten, just a few blank pages waiting for the rest of the story, he feels overwhelmingly compelled to find the author, discuss the murder described in the book, and determine his connection to him. When these roads lead to dead ends, he goes back to the text for answers and finds them (in patterns of 23, of course).

Carrey offers a poignant portrait of an ordinary boy caught in a chain of events that leads him down a terrifying predetermined path. The over-the-top comedic actor known for his massive teeth and rubbery face barely cracks a smile throughout this film. Madsen plays his down-to-earth, yet understanding wife, and also the darkly attractive Fabrizia in Sparrow’s sexual fantasy sequences as Detective Fingerling. As the son of Sparrow, Lerman looks and acts like the genuine product that these two characters would produce.

This tightly packed story is well told with appropriately creepy special effects. Time flies back and forth, and fantasy mixes with reality, but the story is pretty easy to follow. Interesting uses of shadow and light combine with the rotating action of the camera to produce a sense of out of control that reflects Sparrow’s emotions. “The Number 23” is a riveting thriller that leaves you on the edge of your seat that gets a bit messy and chaotic towards the end, but ultimately delivers a satisfying final chapter to the story.

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