Cast: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen
Rating: 2.5 this rating in no way has anything to do with the number 23s out of 5
Kinda Like: An interesting phenomenon made into an uninteresting movie
The Deal:
According to the so-so accuracy of good ole Wikipedia, the so-called “23 enigma” is “the Discordian 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, given enough ingenuity on the part of the interpreter,” and you can find any number of strange numerological and numerical coincidences and synchronicities throughout history. For instance, adding the numbers associated with September 11, 2001 (9 + 11 + 2 + 0 + 0 + 1) equals 23. Yes, the “23 enigma” is kinda freaky.
Anyway, it’s an interesting enough premise to base a film around, right?
When watching director Joel Schumacher’s The Number 23 it’s best to remember the “given enough ingenuity on the part of the interpreter” part of the Wikipedia definition, as lack of said ingenuity is a bit of a problem here.
In the hands of a director willing to challenge a viewer’s sense of narrative (The Fountain’s Darren Aronofsky, The Prestige’s Christopher Nolan, David Lynch, to name a few) The Number 23 might have been an interesting film. With Schumacher at the helm we get an easy to follow, overly processed bore of a film that never takes advantage of a plot that could clearly be expanded into something exciting and different. Schumacher is basically hoping the trailer will make you say, “Woah! That 23 thing is weird, dude! We gotta see this!” and his job is done.
Without spoiling anything, the film’s major problem is that it’s of two minds. On the one hand, we have the whole “23 enigma” thrown in our face, giving the film this global, even universal scale to it. On the other hand, we have Walter Sparrow (Carrey) and his life, which quickly spirals out of control thanks to many personal connections behind the number 23; connections an enigmatic book brings to light. The two ideas never connect at any point. In a nutshell, the film has nothing to do with the “23 enigma” and has more to do with coincidences in the main character’s life revolving around 23 and the book The Number 23. Weird, huh? It’s actually not, and you’ll lose interest well before “the twist” rears its ugly head.
To their credit, Carrey and Madsen try to make a meal out of scraps but in the end the task is a little beyond them.
Skip the movie and check out House of Leaves, the 2000 novel by Mark Z. Danielewski that feels as though it may have influenced the film to a degree. It’s as enigmatic, labyrinthine and full of puzzles, layered narratives, mysteries and coincidences as The Number 23 would like to be.
© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.
