The Number 23 on DVD

Starring Jim Carrey (Bruce Almighty, The Truman Show) and Virginia Madsen (The Candyman), The Number 23 is a wild vision of man who was reborn. The film may have a few problems, but considering director Joel Schumacher's past I would definitely say that The Number 23 is a step up.

What is the film about

An average guy, Walter Sparrow (Carrey) is being led down a road to better understanding a period of his life he completely forgot. Walter works as a dog catcher, frustrated and angry with life. He has a teenage son and loving wife. One dog turns out to be much more of a problem than he could handle. Walter's loving wife, Agatha (Madsen) is trying to keep him from discovering about his dark past.

Walter reads and narrates a book that Agatha gave to him. It's called, "The Number 23." We're introduced to everything in the book, The Number 23 in an exaggerated fashion. Detective Fingerling (Carrey) is trying to figure out why a blond woman committed suicide. Like her, Fingerling grows insane over the number 23. What follows is a downhill journey into betrayal, suspicion, and murder.

Walter starts figuring out all of the significant facts and statistics surrounding 23 Fingerling talks about in the book. He too starts to grow a little too obsessed with the number. It's all leading to a surprising finale. This boasts the question, will Walter be led down the same self-destructive road as the Fingerling character by 23 or will he be able to choose his own destiny?

What I liked and disliked

The film has a few delightfully entertaining moments from Jim Carrey and even more dark, seedy moments. He plays two characters. Walter is more realistic with a few Jim Carrey character quirks that make him at least enjoyable to watch. You can actually care about Walter. Then there is Detective Fingerling. The darker side of Jim Carrey is expressed in a theatrical kind of way. He's over-acting and I think there's a reason for it. The entire book reading part of the film is theatrical and maybe even a little bizarre. But, the filmmakers have to show the difference between the book, The Number 23 and the film we're watching.