The Number 23

I'm not completely sure why after many years of comedy, half of which were actually funny, that Jim Carey decided it was time to branch out and do drama and other forms of acting, sort of the way Tom Hanks did. I'm not really sure what is going on in his head, maybe its to show the world he's more then a spastic rubber faced but that gives stoners and people with ADHD someone to look up too, or maybe its because he's bored with comedy, I don't really know. However, I do know, that though I've liked his other ventures outside of the realm of comedy; The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and Man On the Moon, I'm puzzled at why he chose The Number 23.

See, this isn't a particularly bad movie, nor is it really a particularly good movie either. It does have its moments of well writen and well shot scenes, but it also has some oddities and twists that really, unless done by a master of the cinematic thriller on the level of like, M. Knight Shamalah or Steven Black, just seems to be bad Sci Fi Channel original movie fodder. I think that if someone else had starred in this, or maybe it was made as a tv movie, it would have seemed more fitting. Carey, though giving his all and being very convincing in the role, just doesn't really seem to fit it right. Which is a shame, because at its core, the story is interesting and well writen for the most part.

Here is the plot, Jim Carey plays a dog catcher, his life kind of sucks, though he has a beautiful wife named Agatha, and a son and a faily nice looking home, he is running late on his birthday to meet his wife for dinner, he finds her in a bookstore where they said they would meet and there she finds a mysterious red book called The Number 23, by a man called Tom Secretes (top secrets, get it? HAW!... k), Carey reads the book, finds so many things simular with his life and eventually believes it to be writen about him, and thats where the story really begins. You find out that as he looks around, the number 23 and its reverse 32 are everywhere in Carey's life, he starts to spend his days reading the book and trying to find out who the man that wrote it is and why he knows so much about his life, if I tell you much more it will ruin the plot for you, which is something I would rather not do honestly. I will however say, if this was handled by a better director, this could be thriller of the year material, however, it was not, so though its not a waste of two hours of your life, maybe it would be better to wait for dvd or if a really good copy comes out on the internet.

Carey's acting seems to be all over the place, he bounces between cool father and husband of the year like moments to down right weird and akward in the role of father and husband, he also seems really uncomfortable in social gatherings or around people in general. He narates the story as well, you feel alot of uncertainty in his voice and alot of comments like "I should have done that differently" or "It all wouldn't have happend if I wasn't late to meet Aggy.." and such. Though they might give Carey's character an underdog like charm and an everyday guy thats stressed sort of feel, he just doesn't really do them right I think, but to Carey's credit he does try.

There are alot of things wrong with this movie, the really stupid flashback at the begining where you see Carey basically bitchslap a drunken dispatcher who is coming on to him at some work party they never really explain what the deal is with that. There are alot of dark brooding Jim Carey in alleyways kneeling down or standing in a trenchcoat and wearing black. You also find the scenes of Carey imagining himself in the role of the book's lead character in the sex scenes abit strange, like I said there are alot of things wrong with this movie, I really did find myself hoping that it would shake the oddness and baddly acted, directed and oddly shot scenes and really make me go "wow" but alaz, the wow never really came. And though I didn't hate this movie, in all good faith and honesty, I can not say you should rush out and see it. Not with what a movie costs these days anyway. As I said earlyer, wait till this is on dvd or a good copy comes out on the internet for download, you won't feel as bad about it.

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Laz