The Number 23 (2007)

The movie was phenomenal!! It makes you think deep about the meaning and context about the number "23". The movie talks about how the number is the devil's "666" number in disguise and is associated with almost every tragedy that occurred in the world. Jim Carrey does a stellar job and would highly recommend the everyone 10/10

The best kind of psychological thrillers are the ones that drop hints throughout the movie about what the ending might turn out as. Then, there is the "next tier" of thrillers, where the ending is a bit more manipulative in the sense that it is dropped on the viewer suddenly and cannot be reasoned out along the way. "The Number 23" falls in that latter category. It isn't an all-time great psych thriller (like The Sixth Sense, Memento, or Jim Carrey's own Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), but it does have enough mystery an interesting moments to be an entertaining watch.For a basic plot summary, "The Number 23" tells the story of Walter Sparrow (Carrey), whose wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen) finds a book at the local bookshop entitled The Number 23. While Agatha looks at the book as "interesting fiction" and nothing more, Walter becomes obsessed with it and the number it idolizes. A colleague of Walter's, Isaac French (Danny Huston), tries to dissuade Walter of his obsession, but that only serves to heighten is paranoia about the way the story seems to be intertwining with his reality.If taken solely at face value, "The Number 23" is a pretty good flick. It has an engaging mystery, Carrey is a great leading man, and the ending is indeed a surprise, to say the least. For those looking for a good psychological thriller from time to time, this one fits the bill.Here's the problem for certain viewers, though: This is my favorite genre of film (and thus I have a somewhat high bar set for it), and "Number 23" doesn't quite measure up to the greats of that genre. It isn't a "smart" thriller, if you will, but rather more of a manipulative one in the sense that the twists and turns are completely out of left field and not necessary germane to the story. It comes very, very close at times, but overall (under the direction of Joel Schumacher) it doesn't quite take that "next step" into being a film I'd ever want to re-watch again.So, I think a person's enjoyment of "The Number 23" will depend on their familiarity with the genre. If you aren't a pro, this one will get the job done. If you've "seen them all", though, this won't be at (or necessarily even near) the top of the list.

***SPOILERS***Jim Carrey as animal control employee-or dog catcher-Walter Saprrow gets himself bit by this runaway pit bull that later results in him becoming obsessed with the #23 in a book by the same name that his wife Agatha, Virginia Madsen, bought for him as a birthday present. What the dog and the book had to do with each other has to do with a murder or so were told that was committed 15 years earlier that later turns out to be the reason for the books contents! As Walter starts to read the book #23 he becomes fascinated with not only the number 23 but with all the combinations of numbers, added subtracted and divided, that make up that number. In him feeling that they all have something to do with solving the murder of the person in the book "#23" of Laura Tollins, Rhona Mitra, who incidentally was killed at the age of 23! It soon become apparent that Walter's obsession with the book has to do with him somehow being involved with its contents in that Walter soon takes on he identity, in his deranged mind, of the main character of the book PI Fingering who's out to solve and find Laura's murderer. The film starts to get so confusing that Walter in finding what its, the book "#23", all about that he loses his mind as in reading it he comes to the book's 23rd chapter that he finds out to be totally blank. The reason for that is that who ever wrote it was Laura's killer and didn't want the police or anyone reading the book to find out his identity!***MAJOR SPIOILERS***Idiotic to say the least with so many sub plots that are enough to fill at least a half dozen movie scripts the movie is just too insane, like Walter Sparrow, for anyone to either grasp understand or follow. Jim Carrey who incidentally got paid $23,000,000.00-There's that darn number 23 again- for his role as Walter Sparrow also was awarded by many film critics as being the worst actor of the year 2007 in his role in the film. The ending had Walter finally solve the mystery of Laura's murder by him finding out, with the help of his wife Agatha, that he not only wrote the book but was also the main character in it. That he in the end luckily got off with a light sentence in that the judge and jury declared him to be mentally insane when he wrote it.

The movie had my attention the entire time. Probably because I'm always noticing patterns with numbers throughout my day. Robert Alton Wilson said, "When you start looking for something you tend to find it." That is exactly what happened to Walter Sparrow in this movie. The movie was an extreme case of obsession, which could cause great fear and panorama.The movie had a great plot and twist that kept me guessing up until 2/3rds of the movie. 2/3rd...23. This post is at 10:31pm 2 ones and a 3. On 1/12/2017 = 1-1 = 0 2/2017 = 2+0+1=3The obsession can go as far as I want it to go and the movie displays this kind of behavior throughout the entire movie.