The Number 23 - The Next Great Film on Your List

On opening night I went to the movie theater in my area in search of a great film that was worth 8.75 to see. I found one called The Number 23. I had been anticipating this film for the last month- another Jim Carrey drama. No matter what anyone says, I think comedians are the best actors because they have to be loud and soft at the same time. Acting is all about timing and comedians have to know when to get it right. Jim Carrey is one of the best of those people.

I love Jim Carrey in Man On The Moon, Bruce Almighty, The Truman Show and his greatest performance in my humble opinion Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Whether you like the film or not, Carrey is magnificent. In The Number 23 Carrey plays a family man who becomes obsessed with the book The Number 23 after his wife gives it to him for a birthday present. It's a very strange film in which the main character Walter finds a correlation between his life and the book, between the numbers that surround his life and the numbers that surround a character in the book.

Written by Fernley Phillips and directed by Joel Schumacher, this film takes shape in the first fifteen minutes. It reverts from a family mystery drama to a psychological thriller with exquisite cinematography and new age special effects that aren't there just to be new age, but to tell the story. As the main character is reading this book 65% of the film, the cinematography and art direction shine as a way to see into Carrey's character's head. A dreamlike fantasy appears on-screen as Carrey does voice-over for the film while reading the book.

This film also stars Virginia Madson as Agatha, Walter's wife and their son Robin is played by Logan Lerman, a fairly new talent. Madson is the faithful dutiful loving wife but she also has her own character and her own problems. Her concern for her husband rings true with all of her actions. Lerman is the young teen who really looks up to his father without having to say so. He's involved in the story without it being forced.

The rest of the characters are very dreamlike in a way. Even the characters from the book Walter reads are like the characters in his real life. They seem like something right out of a gothic novel or a strange Cohen brothers film. I was very surprised at Schumacher's work in this film because whenever I got to the movies to see one of his film, I can always tell that he's directed it and it's always a gamble. He's a hit or miss type of guy. This movie definitely hit but on a very different level than any other of his films.

Very much like The Sixth Sense, it is a mystery that seems simple enough but it is the loom and the directing and the internal storytelling that makes the film unique and enjoyable. It was a very looming ending that kind of made you feel cheated. But at the same time it felt very old Hollywood to me. It was a story that didn't have a true ending, but as it says in the film, it had the right ending. It was also very classy in the way it ended rather than becoming dramatic and using a shooout or a bomb blowing up to make it more exciting. I could tell that other people weren't sure whether they liked the film or not. I wasn't sure at first either because up until the very end I did.

It took me on a journey of which I was never bored. It was a classic thriller and when I say classic, I mean it. It was more of the Silence of the Lambs style rather than Saw. It wasn't trying so hard that it intended to only scare me. It showed a family that was truly going through a rough patch that couldn't be fixed until the mystery was solved. It had a plot. It had an intention. It had depth. However, the overall film left me thinking rather than raving.

I can definitely recommend this film to other people but I can't say that it is one of the best ones I've seen in a traditional manner. Very much like Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, this film is catered toward a certain audience but with elements of psychological thriller that everyone will like. It truly kept the pace up and it is something everyone should see whether they like it or not.

The one truth about this film is that it doesn't apologize for not being a blockbuster like so many horror films or thrillers try to be. It has much more to it than blood and gore. But like so many films today, if the audience doesn't come out saying how "awesome!" it was, it doesn't get much hype. It was a well-done film and ZI hope it will be critically acclaimed as a thought provoking character piece. Carrey can definitely put this on his mantle as one of his better dramatic pieces.

But beware before watching this film, it may give you nightmares and you may begin to see the number 23 everywhere in your life. That's what is so lasting about this film. It touches you in a way that other films don't because you get the eerie feeling that everything is connected in your life by some cosmic occurrence that you don't know about. So take deep breaths before going to bed after seeing this film and try not to think about the number . . . 23 . . .