Film Review: the Number 23
Joel Schumacher has directed many films (BATMAN FOREVER, THE LOST BOYS, FLATLINERS, A TIME TO KILL, PHONE BOOTH, etc.) and its good to see him return to the horror genre with the Jim Carrey starring THE NUMBER 23. Less a horror film and more a suspense thriller in the vein of FLATLINERS, THE NUMBER 23 finds Walter Sparrow (CARREY) in the mist of paranoia and fantasy when he receives a book from his wife Agatha (Virginia Madson) titled The Number 23, which is about a private detective Fingerling who gets wrapped up in a noir-mystery with dark consequences.
The film switches perspectives between that of Sparrow’s descent into paranoia to that of the fantasy of the literary world of Fingerling (also played by Carrey). The two stories parallel each other culminating in a climax that reveals the true nature of The Number 23 and its curse and that of the truth about Sparrow’s past.
Like Schumacher’s best films he allows the story to dictate the look and feel of the film rather than push his own aesthetics on the material. This is what has allowed him to move from genre to genre as a director whether it be romance (DYING YOUNG), horror (8MM), action (BAD COMPANY), or drama (VERONICA GUERIN, FALLING DOWN).
Not a flawless film, THE NUMBER 23 mostly suffers from what most mysteries suffer from – trying to explain everything at the climax of the film in a short amount of time. Up until the third act of the film the story goes at a leisure pace but once the mystery of the book The Number 23 begins to unravel a lot of info is revealed and rushed through. This doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the film but it does present a lot to digest all at once.
An independent filmmaker who writes screenplays and articles mostly in the entertainment fields.
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