The Number 23

This is, as far as I recall, Jim Carey's third 'serious' film since The Truman Show and the fantastic Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, further demonstrating that the guy can actually pull off a serious acting career and The Number 23 only serves to reinforce this and, I would hope, influence his decisions to make more of these types of films rather than tread out more trite comedies that are instantly forgettable.

Carey plays a regular family guy, married to a loving wife and father to a level-headed teenage boy. However, his life gets turned upside down when his wife buys him a strange book for his birthday called The Number 23.

The more he reads the book, the more he finds parallels between the narrative text and his own life down to little nuances and thought patterns and before long he becomes more than a little obsessive about the number 23 and what it signifies.

Joel Schumacher does a fine job balancing directive duties between real time and film noir flashback sequences adding a chilling depth and storybook quality to the movie.

However, what lets the film down is the explanation in terms of the plot revalation and the inability for the audience to work out what the cause and effect is until the end of the film. As a plus, the revelation is extremely plausible and the ending is tied up nicely but you don't see it coming because there is no evidence throughout the film to substantiate it.

Nevertheless, The Number 23 will keep you attentive and contentive until the final scene and I recommend going to see it.

I would give this film 14.72 out of 23 [6.4/10]