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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

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1 - 4 of 6

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Reviews for The Number 23

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81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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Laughably acted and about as scary as Britney Spears in a hair salon.

Full Review Source: Fresno Bee | comment Comment
02/23/07
Donald Munro
Donald Munro
Fresno Bee

The titular novel is written by an anonymous scribe who goes by the moniker Topsy Kretts (Get it? Like “Top Secrets”? Yeah, I didn’t laugh either.)

Full Review Source: FilmStew.com | comment Comment
02/23/07
Brett Buckalew
Brett Buckalew
FilmStew.com

The Number 23 is an accidental comedy starring a deadly serious Jim Carrey.

comment Comment
02/23/07
Manohla Dargis
Manohla Dargis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

...drops all kinds of ridiculous into the story line, all of which could have been forgiven if they weren't so blatantly swept under the rug...

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
02/23/07
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
rec.arts.movies.reviews

A murky, flawed thriller that just doesn't add up.

Full Review Source: www.susangranger.com | comment Comment
02/23/07
Susan Granger
Susan Granger
www.susangranger.com

The Number 23 is the movie equivalent of a parlor trick. It's cool to see and it can pleasantly catch you off guard, but there's ultimately not much to it beyond its own sense of trickery.

Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | comment Comment
02/23/07
Mike McGranaghan
Mike McGranaghan
Aisle Seat

Every plotline [is] explained like the Carver's plan in nip/tuck, but it's all so contained. If the number is really so significant, as I understand it is in some intellectual circles, why not go there?

Full Review Source: Can Magazine | comment Comment
02/23/07
Fred Topel
Fred Topel
Can Magazine

There are 23 letters in 'the twist ending is idiotic.' And in 'Joel Schumacher can bite me.' And in 'go to another movie tonight.'

Full Review Source: Salt Lake Tribune | comment Comment
02/23/07
Sean Means
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune

[The film] squanders a promising premise and a lot of cool special effects on a story that gets more ridiculous and less involving with each passing minute.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
02/23/07
Maitland McDonagh
Maitland McDonagh
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times. Charles Manson was born Nov. 12 (11 + 12 = 23). The Mayans believed the world would end on Dec. 23, 2012 (20 + 1 + 2 = 23). My brother stole my pogo stick when I was 23 and broke it into 23 pieces.

Full Review Source: Toronto Star | comment 4 Comments
02/23/07
Peter Howell
Peter Howell
Toronto Star

The author's obsession with the number 23 becomes Walter's, and we're treated to a lot of examples of numbers that add up to 23, which means a lot of scenes in which people say things like, 'What's 14 plus 9? 23!' and look haunted.

Full Review Source: Seattle Times | comment Comment
02/23/07
Moira MacDonald
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times

Carrey owns this movie. He's in virtually every scene, and there's no taking one's eyes from him.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
02/23/07
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
San Francisco Chronicle

Jim Carrey makes for an unlikely but completely effective lead choice. He brings a nice touch of comic irony to his otherwise serious role, impressively handling a wide range of emotions as an ordinary Joe caught in an extraordinary web.

Full Review Source: Reel.com | comment Comment
02/23/07
Gary Goldstein
Gary Goldstein
Reel.com

If you kept at it, you could probably think of 23 other similar movies you'd rather be watching.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
02/23/07
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

What kills 23 are any number of bad choices that render the movie tone-deaf, sometimes hilariously so.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
02/23/07
M.E. Russell
M.E. Russell
Oregonian

That I got so much enjoyment from the movie's flamboyant style made the inanity of the plot all the more irritating.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles CityBeat | comment Comment
02/23/07
Andy Klein
Andy Klein
Los Angeles CityBeat

Pages turn, knives plunge, rain patters and the camera rarely holds steady. No amount of quick cuts and twitchy shots, however, can compensate for the lack of narrative momentum.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
02/23/07
Lisa Rose
Lisa Rose
Newark Star-Ledger

The main test of a twisty thriller is, would you watch it again? You won't, because the solution turns out to be both uncomplicated and cliché.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
02/23/07
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

There are more than 23 reasons why Joel Schumacher's The Number 23 is not very good; but in keeping with the theme, I'll stick to the titular sum:

Full Review Source: Sympatico.ca | comment Comment
02/23/07
Angela Baldassarre
Angela Baldassarre
Sympatico.ca

Though students of formulaic screenwriting may figure this mystery out long before Walter does, there won't be much satisfaction in it because it is totally preposterous.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
02/23/07
Jack Mathews
Jack Mathews
New York Daily News
 
 
81 - 100 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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