The Number 23: One Man's Obsession and Paranoia with the Number 23

"The Number 23" directed by Joel Schumacher and written by Fernley Phillips delves into one man's obsession and paranoia with the number 23. Slowly and awkwardly, the film progresses to tell a story of obsession and murder.

Walter Sparrow, Jim Carrey's character, a local dog catcher is given a book by his wife on his birthday. Agatha, played by Virgina Madsen, doesn't know the Pandora's Box she is opening. Soon Walter finds parallels between his life and the life of the character, Fingerling. He begins to see 23's everywhere. The number 23 begins to haunt his mind as he sees it in everything. His life begins to fall apart, as his past becomes realized.

The movie's style is done in two styles. Walter Sparrow's life is done in standard modern cinematic style. Clean shots, no special or distinctive angles or framing. There is nothing especially interesting about the film making, nothing that caught my attention.

The parts of "The Number 23" set in the book or are of Fingerling's life are done in film noir style. A dark and seedy feeling, it sings out pulp magazine. It draws an interesting distinction between Sparrow and Fingerling, even though Carrey plays both men. Joel Schumacher didn't blend the noir and modern styles well and cinematically speaking, it was like being in the car with a sixteen year old trying to learn to drive a stick shift. Occasionally it slips into gear but most of the time it would have been a good idea to wear a neck brace and pray for dinner time.

Jim Carrey steps away from the slapstick roles he's become famous for but he didn't make a bad decision agreeing to "The Number 23." Carrey's performance didn't fall over the cliff into melodrama, but didn't leave me awestruck either. The beginning of the movie is light hearted and and needed an actor who can pull subtle humor. As the movie progresses, the subject matter becomes progressively aphotic and nebulous. Carrey has a problem portraying the intensity necessary for a character falling into madness. In avoiding melodrama, he avoided intensity too. As I said before, he doesn't go overboard and become unbelievable but he didn't come to the edge either.