Reviewed by Melissa Garza
Jim Carrey proves once again how versatile and talented he is by portraying the dramatic and psychotic role of Walter Sparrow. Walter’s life, though not perfect, does make him happy until his wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen) insists on purchasing him an old book entitled “The Number 23″ written by the unknown author Topsy Krets.
He begins to read the novel which follows the life of a fictitious detective named Fingerling who witnesses a blonde obsessed with the number 23 commit suicide. At first, he takes fore granted that the woman was crazy, but soon he also begins to fixate over the number. Everything in his life whether it be his birthday, the colors of the walls or how many shoes his girlfriend owns, always equates to the dreaded number. Walter is immediately taken aback by how much it seems to model itself after his life. The turmoil of Fingerling’s childhood mimics Walter’s almost exactly, and soon, it seems that there is much more than just a coincidence in the connection. He begins to see how deeply twenty-three has impacted itself and is embedded into his own life. The address of his house, when he met his wife, his social security number, everything seems to add up to twenty-three.
Once he reads deeper into the novel and realizes that the number controls Fingerling so much that he murders his girlfriend, Walter begins to be sure he too will follow the same path. Agatha is unimpressed. At first, she thinks his obsessiveness is amusing but then annoying, and finally she finds herself frightened for him and his sanity. As, Walter descends more and more into madness, they decide the only way to move beyond is to meet Topsy Krets, yet the task is harder than it would seem. The book was self-published and the author wrote nothing else. Still they persist, attempting to get to the bottom of it all which leads them down several paths. The first, a visit to Kyle Finch (Mark Pellegrino), a man who was placed in prison for killing his girlfriend in a manner eerily similar to Kret’s novel. Walter is sure that Kyle is really Topsy yet upon meeting him Finch swears his innocence and denies even knowledge about it, however he does provide insight into the author’s name. Though Sparrow is not entirely convinced that Kyle isn’t guilty, he continues his search for more answers until the surprising truth is finally revealed.
Sparrow could have easily been portrayed as an idiotic nutcase, but Jim Carrey helped turn him into a sympathetic suffering man. While watching, it is easy to understand the doubt of Walter’s loved ones, but it is his own constant self-doubt combating with that silent little voice screaming, “something’s not right,” that he can’t help but listen to which makes him into an odd dark hero. The dialogue, at times, does seem over the top but Carrey delivers the lines magnificently and makes each one believable.
Logan Lerman also does incredibly well as Robin Sparrow, Walter’s teenage son who is the only one who believes his dad is on to something. A mixture of devotion to his father and genetic like-mindedness allow Robin to see things that Agatha is blind and resistant to. Lerman, though not on the screen much, does hold his own.
Virginia Madsen, on the other hand, who shined in ‘The Prophecy’ gets overshadowed and really doesn’t make any sort of impression. She’s bland, even while attempting to play the seductress, and really can’t overcome the duality that the picture called for her to play. When she was supposed to be sexy she seemed out of place in the wardrobe. When Agatha’s actions were strong and fierce the emotions shown were weak and insecure. This was the only bad casting choice but it wasn’t terrible enough to impact the film all that much.
Though advertised in a deceitful way, the movie still packs a punch and fulfills its goal of being a great suspense thriller. The trailers focused more on the different historical events surrounding 23 however other than two very brief mentions, the movie never delves into the matter at length. Instead, it follows one man’s belief of the significance of a number rather than the chance of repeated coincidences. It is an intelligent film, but not as smart as the preview would have one believe which might explain the amount of negative reviews. Still, the Number 23 is far better than most of the films passing for suspense and actually delivers a powerful and unexpected ending.
Scared Stiff Rating 7.5/10 (7+5+10 = 22….damn)
