THE NUMBER 23. New Line Cinema, 2007. Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins. Screenwriter: Fernley Phillips. Director: Joel Schumacher.

   What this is, when you get down to it, with the dirt ground in deep beneath your fingernails, is a movie about obsessive numerology:

    “…all significant events, names, dates and times are somehow connected to the number 23. Witness the historical evidence: Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times; Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564, and died on April 23, 1616; and the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912, and obviously, 4+1+5+1+9+1+2=23.”

   You get the idea? There’s more:

The Number 23

    “Parents each contribute 23 chromosomes to their kids; the Earth’s axis is off by 23.5 degrees (and 5 = 2 + 3); the Mayans predicted the apocalypse on December 23, 2012 (20 + 1 + 2 = 23).”

   And still more:

    “ ● The address of the bookstore is 599. 5+9+9=23. ● Walter’s room at the asylum was 318. 31-8=23. ● The number of letters in “Animal Control Department” ● The apartment number across from the suicide blonde’s apartment (959) ● The dog in the movie is named NED. N is the 14th letter of the alphabet; E is the fifth; and D is the fourth. 14 + 5 + 4 = 23. ● The numbers on Walter’s car add up to 23 (906 8TC, 9+0+6+8=23, 20(T)+3(C)=23) ● The numbers on Isaac’s car is 023 5HJ, H is the eight letter in the alphabet and J is the tenth, 5 + 8(H) + 10(J) = 23 ● The store front numbers that Fingerling is standing in front of while watching Fabrizia & Phoenix add to 23 (12, and 11). ● The film was released in the US on February 23, 2007. ● The number of Walter Sparrow’s footlocker 87305 = 23 (8+7+3+5) ● The PO Box that Carrey and his family mail the boxes to is “P.O.Box 977.” 9+7+7 =23 ● His birthday is February the 3rd, 2/3, 23.”

   You see what I mean?

The Number 23

“● 9/11 2001, 9+11+2+1= 23. ● JFK was killed on November 22, 1963 2+2=4 and 1+9+6+3=19 and 19+4= 23.”

   Who’s Walter?, you ask. He’s Walter Sparrow, the obsessive, semi-nerdy protagonist of The Number 23, an animal control specialist, happily married (Virginia Madsen), with one well-adjusted son (Logan Lerman). Things are fine until his birthday (see above). A loose dog named Ned (see above) keeps Walter from meeting his wife on time. Loitering in a bookstore, she comes across a hand-produced book titled The Number 23, by Topsy Kretts, and she buys it for Walter as a gift.

The Number 23

   That’s when things go bad. Very bad. Walter begins to identify more and more with the protagonist in the book, a homicide detective named Fingerling. Noirish nightmares follow. A entire world filled with doppelgängers. A world filled with noir symbolism: rainy streets, saxophones playing in the background, beautiful suicidal blondes, knives, blood, death. A world of paranoia. Who do you trust? Are the dreams real?

   Many reviewers seem to have thought that since Jim Carrey is the star of The Number 23, that the movie is a comedy. They are wrong. Since they, the reviewers, didn’t laugh, except to ridicule, they decided that this is a black comedy. They are wrong.

   This is, believe it or not, a straightforward detective movie, and it is up to Walter Sparrow to determine, first of all, who died, and when, and then, finally, who did it. The story doesn’t get there in straight-forward fashion, though, and I admit it’s easy to lose track of what’s happening. (Some people who’ve left comments on IMBD were so totally confused after 20 minutes that they simply stopped watching. Why they want others to know this, I do not know.)

   This movie is a visual treat for the eyes, if you don’t mind skrunge, if you don’t mind madness occurring right in front of you, if you go with the movie instead of fighting it.

The Number 23

   I do wish, though, that the makers of this movie had chosen another ending. This one’s flat. It took a lot of work to build up to a suitable climax, but this one isn’t it.

   The mystery’s solved, the culprit’s named, but the sudden swoosh of air out of your lungs is less a release of tension than one of disappointment.

   Not that the ending isn’t the one the movie was pointing to all along. It’s not that. It’s that it could have – should have – been more. Not happier, not sadder, just one with a little more edge to it. That’s all I’d ask. (I’ve read that the DVD contains an alternative ending, but so far I’ve not been able to confirm that.)

      ______

    Please note: ● Friday’s the 6th day of the week, January’s the first month of the year, and this is the 16th. 6 + 1 + 16 = 23. ● If you were to copy this review into WordPerfect, the images would each appear as three words: The Number 23. There are 23 paragraphs in this review. ● There are 828 words: [2 + 3] + [8 + 2 + 8] = 23.