|
Movie Review - The Number 23 (2007)
|
|
|
|
|
(What this rating means)
|
|
| |
|
| Director: |
Joel Schumacher |
| Starring: |
Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, and Rhona Mitra |
| Rated: |
R (for violence, disturbing images, sexuality and language) |
| Length: |
95 minutes |
| Genre: |
Drama/Mystery/Thriller |
| Tagline: |
The truth will find you. |
| Studio: |
New Line Cinema |
| Website: |
The Number 23 |
| Release: |
February 23, 2007 |
|
PLOT
|
If only Walter Sparrow (Carrey) hadn't been late to pick up his wife (Madsen) that day. Then she wouldn't
have seen the book. The Number 23. A novel of obsession. Why do the details of the main character's
life so closely resemble those of Walter's? It's like the author knew Walter and was calling to
him.
That's why there is cause for concern when the character in the book turns to murder. Is Walter doomed to
do the same? Will his obsession consume him, or will he be able to unlock the secret behind the number 23
and solve this baffling mystery? 23 ensues.
|
|
JOHNNY'S TAKE
|
The Number 23. A novel of obsession? More like a movie of obsession. Say what you will about Jim Carrey's
latest dramatic turn, but there's no denying that it accomplishes one of its missions - immediately following
the closing credits you WILL be looking for, and finding, the number 23. I've been running all sorts of
calculations with dates, ages, etc. and it's starting to freak me out. Yes, I know, I'm sure I could take any
number and massage the calculations to get the desired result, but the movie isn't called The Number 29,
now is it?
Anyway, I'm not sure why this one is getting so much hate. Is it the next Memento or The Usual
Suspects? No, but it is a film with an excellent concept, a solid-if-not-flawless execution, and a
fairly satisfying resolution. Chances are you'll either love or hate the conclusion, but one thing you
won't remain is indifferent. There are some questions surrounding the number that were left unanswered,
and that is a source of frustration, but it kept things grounded in just enough reality to work. I appreciate
that it doesn't flip off the audience like Hide and Seek's ending did.
It's not often that the opening credits of a film keep my attention, but I didn't dare look away as we're
shown how the number 23 has surfaced through various dark moments in history. And make sure you stay until
the closing credits begin because a Bible verse is shown that will make you say, "Whoa." Particularly if
you're Keanu Reeves or Joey Lawrence. As my friend Stephen commented, it puts a stamp on the whole thing.
Beginning to end. That's how long my attention was engaged. Sure, there are some slow moments, but we're
talking about a 90 minute movie here. Learn to stretch that attention span, losers. The contrasting bright/dark
visuals are intriguing, the acting is solid (hate to break it to you haters out there, but Jim Carrey
can act), and though the humor is sparse, its presence is enough to offer a little relief from the
consuming darkness.
Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a few phone numbers and street numbers to add. And multiply. And subtract.
And divide. And, well, whatever else I need to do to serve my purpose.
|
|
ODDS & ENDS
|
- Elisabeth Shue was originally cast as the female lead but had to decline because she was pregnant.
- The "23 Enigma" refers to the belief that all incidents and events are directly connected to the number
23, some permutation of the number 23, or a number related to the number 23.
- Johnny's birthday is February 9, 1975 ... 2 + 9 + 7 + 5 = 23
- This is the 23rd project Joel Schumacher has directed (counting both his film and television
work).
- Johnny's sister's birthday is February 6, 1987 ... 2 + 6 + 8 + 7 = 23
- The film began production on January 23rd, 2006.
- "I actually changed the name of my company to JC23 a couple years ago because I had kind of an
obsession with this number for a long time," says Carrey. "One of my friends in Canada had the obsession,
and he told me about it - started pointing to things like license plates and showing how they added up to
23. I thought it was ridiculous, but then I started seeing it everywhere and it finally ended up culminating
in my realization that the 23rd Psalm was about living without fear. That's why I used it in my company
name."
"When the script came along, it was completely coincidental," says Carrey. "I was telling a friend about my
23 thing, and he told me he had just read a script called The Number 23. So I read it and was blown
away - it was so compelling and it was freaking me out, page by page. I gave the script to another friend
of mine to read and, after an hour and a half, I went back in to see him. He had read the entire script and
had turned to page 23 where he was circling every 23rd word to see if there was a pattern. That's what I
think this movie will do with an audience - you'll leave the theater going, 'There it is!'"
- "In life, 23 seems to be attached to a lot of different things - good and bad," notes Carrey. "You've
got Michael Jordan and LeBron James, who both wear number 23. David Beckham just changed his number to 23.
Then you've got O.J. Simpson, the infamous athlete who wore 32 - 23 reversed. You've also got Nicole
Simpson and Ronald Goldman, whose names combined have 23 letters. It just goes on and on. It's everywhere."
- Dr. Pepper contains 23 flavors.
- "I try not to get caught up in it anymore, because when we were making the film, the cast and crew
became so obsessed with the number," says Shumacher. "People's children, the internet, it becomes this
every day thing. Somebody would look at the slate and we're doing the 23rd take of the 23rd scene, and it
happens to be February 23rd. Then everybody goes, 'No way!' and nothing happens. You do take 23 or not,
and then you go on. But the cameras didn't explode, we didn't win a million dollars in the lottery. Nothing
happened except that it was the 23rd take on the 23rd day - oooohhh."
- Even Virginia Madsen, who was initially a skeptic, began to notice strange coincidences. "My mother
bought a new place, and the address has the number 23 on it. Then a parking space that was assigned to me
was number 23. And when Jim and I filmed a scene in a car on a flatbed, every time we went to the beginning
of the shot we found ourselves on 32nd St. Jim is so satisfied when it happens, but I try my best not to
pay attention. I've decided it's just too haunting."
- Jim Carrey was in Batman Forever (his 23rd credit) with Debi Mazar who was in Girl 6
(her 23rd credit) with Gretchen Mol who was in Picnic (her 23rd credit) with Josh Brolin who was
in Hollow Man (his 23rd credit) with Kevin Bacon. SPOOKY! You better appreciate all the 23rd
credit connections I made because I put way too much time into it.
And come on, the simple fact that Hollow Man (the glue of these odds and ends) is Josh's 23rd credit
HAS TO MEAN SOMETHING!
|
|
MAMA'S APPROVAL
|
I'd leave the kids home for this one. The movie isn't chock full with profanity, but there are between 6
and 10 f-bombs. There's no real nudity (just some of the brief, shadowy, hard-to-distinguish variety), but
there are a few sexual situations.
Plus, some of the images are too dark and the themes too adult for the youngsters.
|
|
TRAILER COMPARISON
|
The good thing about the trailer is that it doesn't give too much away. Plus, it's a pretty solid
representation of what to expect.
|
|
THE GIST
|
If you walk into the film expecting overwhelming greatness then somewhere down the road you overestimated
Joel Shumacher's directing abilities. However, if you're fan of "solve the riddle" murder mysteries then
I see no reason this won't keep your attention for an hour and a half.
|
|
