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Movies / On DVD / The Number 23
The Number 23

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The Number 23 (2007)

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Reviews Counted:184

Fresh:15

Rotten:169

Average Rating:3.5/10

Consensus: Jim Carrey has been sharp in a number of non-comedic roles, but this lurid, overheated, and self-serious potboiler is not one of them. The Number 23 is clumsy, unengaging, and mostly confusing.

Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language

Runtime: 1 hr 38 mins

Genre: Mystery, Occult, Thriller, Murder, Theatrical Release, Fantasy Worlds

Theatrical Release:23-02-2007

Synopsis: In Joel Schumacher's psychological thriller THE NUMBER 23, Jim Carrey takes on another dramatic role. Carrey's character is similar to his roles in THE TRUMAN SHOW and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE... In Joel Schumacher's psychological thriller THE NUMBER 23, Jim Carrey takes on another dramatic role. Carrey's character is similar to his roles in THE TRUMAN SHOW and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND: he portrays an average man thrust into quite extraordinary situations after a series of strange events cause him to question everything he's ever taken for granted. On his birthday, Walter Sparrow is given a mysterious and tattered book called THE NUMBER 23 by his loving wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen). As Walter reads the book, he quickly notices its alarming similarities to his own life. Rather than stop reading, he continues, unknowingly inviting the book to take over his life. The deeper Walter gets into the plot, the more he sees himself in its protagonist, Fingerling, whom we see through highly stylized sequences in which Carrey appears as the seedy detective character. Madsen is also present in these scenes, cast as Fingerling's pain-loving girlfriend Fabrizia. As Fingerling and Fabrizia's love affair inches towards its fiery conclusion, we learn the role the number 23 has played in their story and will play in Walter's future if he cannot keep his growing obsession with it at bay. While Carrey and Madsen are adept at playing a man gone mad and a headstrong wife in crisis, they are most fascinating as their dark counterparts, and Schumacher succeeds in creating a truly intoxicating noirish underworld of sex and death through those sequences. [More]

Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston

Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Rhona Mitra

Director: Joel Schumacher

Director: Joel Schumacher
Screenwriter: Fernley Phillips
Producer: Tripp Vinson, Beau Flynn
Studio: New Line Cinema

[See More Credits]

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1 - 4 of 6

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Reviews for The Number 23

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61 - 80 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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More entertaining than most of the movies nominated for an Oscar this year.

Full Review Source: Three Movie Buffs | comment Comment
02/26/07
Scott Nash
Scott Nash
Three Movie Buffs

There definitely is something to this whole 23 thing. I bet that if you circled the 23rd word in each paragraph of this review, you'd find a secret message.

Full Review Source: Premiere Magazine | comment 1 Comment
02/26/07
Ethan Alter
Ethan Alter
Premiere Magazine

I don't care what anybody else says. The acting was good and the script was complelling. So there!

Full Review Source: Greenwich Village Gazette | comment Comment
02/26/07
Eric Lurio
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette

It's no longer thrilling or even campy. It's just embarrassing.

Full Review Source: UGO | comment Comment
02/26/07
Brian Tallerico
Brian Tallerico
UGO

Thanks to director Joel Schumacher, all of Carrey's shirts had nipples.

Full Review Source: MovieJuice! | comment Comment
02/25/07
Mark Ramsey
Mark Ramsey
MovieJuice!

This sophomoric psychological thriller might not be the best movie Jim Carrey ever made, but it certainly is his worst.

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
02/25/07
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

My biggest complaint was how this story just completely fell apart in about 40 minutes. I wanted to feel sorry for Walter, but all I could do is shake my head and laugh.

Full Review Source: 3BlackChicks Review | comment Comment
02/25/07
Kamal  'The Diva' Larsuel
Kamal 'The Diva' Larsuel
3BlackChicks Review

Like a poorly designed house of cards, 23 tumbles when it becomes apparent that the weak premise sports an even weaker plot. Tack another disaster on to Schumacher's cinematic belt.

Full Review Source: Palo Alto Weekly | comment Comment
02/25/07
Tyler Hanley
Tyler Hanley
Palo Alto Weekly

it never does succeed in finding anything truly sinister about the number 23, except, of course, that it will always be associated with this flick

Full Review Source: Killer Movie Reviews | comment Comment
02/24/07
Andrea Chase
Andrea Chase
Killer Movie Reviews

Suicide Blonde's intensity, her fear, her too-white dress and room and lighting, her violent death: it's all a little much.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
02/24/07
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

One of the last lines uttered in The Number 23 is, 'It may not be the happiest of endings, but it's the right one'. Try the wrong one.

Full Review Source: DustinPutman.com | comment Comment
02/24/07
Dustin Putman
Dustin Putman
DustinPutman.com

...it's as if debuting screenwriter Fernley Phillips was too lazy to even rip off second rate King.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
02/24/07
Laura Clifford
Laura Clifford
rec.arts.movies.reviews

Much depends on mood, tone, and suspension of disbelief, but Schumacher never succeeds in making us buy into any of this. The result is a tough slog through some unpleasant territory that never makes sense or is tied together.

Full Review Source: Denton Record Chronicle (TX) | comment 3 Comments
02/24/07
Boo Allen
Boo Allen
Denton Record Chronicle (TX)

While bolstered by an intriguing premise, the thriller The Number 23 cops out for a slick, Hollywood-ized ending

Full Review Source: Hollywood.com | comment Comment
02/24/07
Kit Bowen
Kit Bowen
Hollywood.com

Watching Carrey babble gibberish about the sinister nature of 23 in scene after hyperventilating scene isn't any more fun or enlightening than listening to street-corner lunatics discourse on similar topics.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
02/24/07
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin
AV Club

There are 23 things wrong with this movie. Or maybe there are 24. Or 165. To be honest, I lost count.

Full Review Source: Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies | comment Comment
02/23/07
Nell Minow
Nell Minow
Movie Mom at Yahoo! Movies

Carrey precisely performs his change of characters, but after adding in the revelation at the end of the movie that makes little sense, The Number 23 is a little short changed for me.

Full Review Source: ReviewExpress.com | comment Comment
02/23/07
Diana Saenger
Diana Saenger
ReviewExpress.com

What does this all have to do with murder? Zero, as it turns out.

Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | comment Comment
02/23/07
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Jeffrey M. Anderson
Combustible Celluloid

23 Reasons You Shouldn't Bother Seeing The Number 23.

Full Review Source: cinemaobsession.com | comment Comment
02/23/07
Jeff Otto
Jeff Otto
cinemaobsession.com

A silly mess that fails as both a psychological thriller and a camp send-up of the same.

Full Review Source: Flipside Movie Emporium | comment Comment
02/23/07
Rob Vaux
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium
 
 
61 - 80 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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