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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: R [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:Feb 23, 2007 Wide

Box Office: $35,063,732

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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Release:

Oct 20, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • (ENGLISH) A man becomes obsessed about a novel that features a character preoccupied by the number 23 and sees parallels between the book and his real life, but the book ends with a murder that has not happened yet.
  • (FRENCH) Le jour de son anniversaire, Walter Sparrow, brigadier de la société protectrice des animaux dans une petite ville, arrive en retard à son rendez-vous avec son épouse Agatha. Celle-ci l'attend dans une librairie de livres usagés, o¨ son regard s'est arrêté sur ½The Number 23+, un roman tout élimé qu'elle offre à son mari. + la lecture des premiers chapitres de l'ouvrage, Walter se découvre une parenté troublante avec le héros, un détective tourmenté par le nombre 23, sorte de clé de voûte de tous les mystères de l'existence. Un examen numérologique approfondi de sa propre vie plonge Walter dans le même délire obsessionnel, lequel croît au fil de sa lecture. Dans l'espoir de l'aider à retrouver ses esprits, Agatha et leur fils partent avec lui à la recherche du mystérieux auteur du roman.
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    Reviews for The Number 23

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    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
    Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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    Nothing to decipher here

    Full Review Source: CinePassion | comment Comment
    08/27/09
    Fernando F. Croce
    Fernando F. Croce
    CinePassion

    There is something to this 23 stuff, and a film about apophenia (obsession with random connections) would be fascinating. But no.

    Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
    04/23/09
    Peg Aloi
    Peg Aloi
    Boston Phoenix

    Jim Carrey tries his best, but the film never gets psychologically creepy, never makes the viewer question what is fiction, what is reality, and most importantly what the number 23 is all about.

    Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review | comment 1 Comment
    03/03/08
    Jeff Bayer
    Jeff Bayer
    The Scorecard Review

    A convoluted and rather dull affair.

    Full Review Source: Dark Horizons | comment Comment
    01/15/08
    Garth Franklin
    Garth Franklin
    Dark Horizons

    So much cascading hatred for the audience runs through the flickering images of this film!

    Full Review Source: Antagony & Ecstasy | comment Comment
    09/27/07
    Tim Brayton
    Tim Brayton
    Antagony & Ecstasy

    ... the film astoundingly reaches new levels of unintentional self-parody with every turn.

    Full Review Source: DVD Review | comment Comment
    08/02/07
    Felix Gonzalez Jr.
    Felix Gonzalez Jr.
    DVD Review

    THE NUMBER 23 starts off promisingly but quickly devolves into an uneven mess.

    Full Review Source: Murphy's Movie Reviews | comment Comment
    07/14/07
    Ted Murphy
    Ted Murphy
    Murphy's Movie Reviews

    For all its gimmicky numerology, The Number 23 just doesn't add up.

    Full Review Source: CNN.com | comment Comment
    07/09/07
    Tom Charity
    Tom Charity
    CNN.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    What could have been an intriguing psychological drama turns into a mediocre crime thriller.

    Full Review Source: DVDTown.com | comment Comment
    07/09/07
    John J. Puccio
    John J. Puccio
    DVDTown.com

    The Number 23 is Schumacher's first stab at a scary movie, the end result just doesn't quite add up.

    Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
    06/25/07
    Stax
    Stax
    IGN Movies

    This thriller's biggest mistake is its belief that it's as clever and original as it is visually stylish.

    Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
    04/27/07
    George Palathingal
    George Palathingal
    Sydney Morning Herald

    Joel Schumacher does a chaotic job of turning this thriller into indigestible jelly %u2013 it wobbles formless for a while, finally settling into the shape of a duck

    Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
    04/21/07
    Urban Cinefile Critics
    Urban Cinefile Critics
    Urban Cinefile

    full review in Greek

    Full Review Source: Movies for the Masses | comment Comment
    04/18/07
    Joseph Proimakis
    Joseph Proimakis
    Movies for the Masses

    Sem conseguir convencer o espectador do básico (a onipresença do número 23), o roteiro chega a apelar para absurdos para tentar provar sua lógica tortuosa.

    Full Review Source: Cinema em Cena | comment Comment
    03/25/07
    Pablo Villaca
    Pablo Villaca
    Cinema em Cena

    Good God, I actually liked this screwball of a mystery thriller.

    Full Review Source: Reno News and Review | comment 1 Comment
    03/24/07
    Bob Grimm
    Bob Grimm
    Reno News and Review

    ...tombe dans pratiquement tous les pièges dans lesquels le genre se complait mollement depuis déjà plusieurs années

    Full Review Source: Panorama | comment Comment
    03/24/07
    Jean-François Vandeuren
    Jean-François Vandeuren
    Panorama

    While it's often fun watching Jim Carrey handle more serious material the same cannot always be said of director Joel Schumacher.

    Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
    03/17/07
    David N. Butterworth
    David N. Butterworth
    rec.arts.movies.reviews

    There's nothing to fear.

    Full Review Source: Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia) | comment Comment
    03/15/07
    Mark Palermo
    Mark Palermo
    Coast (Halifax, Nova Scotia)

    Pretty much every important date in history...can be teased to fit the pattern. What can't be hammered out of this fixation, apparently, is a coherent movie.

    Full Review Source: Film.com | comment Comment
    03/13/07
    Jonathan F. Richards
    Jonathan F. Richards
    Film.com
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    Schumacher is as much to blame for this mess as Carrey is. Over and over again, he mistakes looming shadows and manic outbursts for tension, and his ponderous, ham-fisted directorial style creates more questions than it answers.

    Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
    03/10/07
    Josh Rosenblatt
    Josh Rosenblatt
    Austin Chronicle
     
     
    1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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