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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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    61 - 80 (sorted by date)
    Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 >> >|
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    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

    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

    ...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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    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
     
     
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