BethanyREVIEW: The Number 23 (LINK)
March 29th 2008 12:30
This is a movie that I feel very mixed about, so I'll just go ahead and set up the premise for you before I let you know why I'm so torn about this film.
Jim Carrey plays dog catcher Walter Sparrow who has a pretty wife named Agatha (played aptly by Virginia Madsen) and a good-kid Robin (played Logan Lerman). A late call and a dog bite cause him to be late meeting his wife on his birthday, and as such she has time to pick a book up off the shelf and read it before she gives it to him for his birthday. The book is called The Number 23 and was written by Topsy Kretts (Top Secrets). Almost as soon as the book is introduced, so is a double plot line. This introduces Jim Carrey's other character, Fingerling, a police detective with a decidedly dark side. Fingerling's lover is also played by Virginia Madsen (in a dark wig), a dark Italian beauty called Fabrizia.
Both Sparrow and Fingerling are introduced to the number 23 and the mathematical oddities that it seemingly represents (if you want to know more about that, check it out here). Both characters start to spiral into seeming madness shortly after that, and to tell much more would be... telling.
The crux of the matter, and the reason I am so mixed about this movie, is that the Walter Sparrow storyline (which is the main storyline) is not as much fun to watch, entertaining, or interesting as the Fingerling storyline. I think there are a couple of reasons. I think Carrey had a lot more fun playing Fingerling (complete with a huge tattoo that I find pretty cool looking). The Fingerling plot-line has better dialog, and seems to be more well-written. Also, the way that the Fingerling plot-line is filmed is slicker, in a visual sense, then the Sparrow angle. It's a fun storyline, it's entertaining, and when the main storyline cuts in, it feels like an interruption. All the parts are well-acted, but the sub-plot is just better than the main storyline.
If they had taken the Fingerling storyline and made it into a film, I think it would have been very successful indeed. They would have had to flesh it out a lot, but it would have been entertaining and fun to watch, instead of a disappointment. And there could have been sequels. I keep hoping that Joel Schumacher will call 'mulligan' and redo the whole thing, although I know how likely that is (this movie did abysmally, and Jim Carrey subsequently dropped his agent and I bet he never even glances at the movie if he passes it in the store). The worst part is that the ending of the Fingerling plot-line is staggeringly unsatisfying, and that loose end is still nagging at me.
This is a movie that fell apart because the sub-plot was cooler than the plot, and in the end I didn't care about Walter Sparrow, I wanted to know more about Fingerling. It might be worth catching if you see it in the dollar bin, or you get a cheap rental one night. It's nothing you should go out of your way to catch.
As a final note, I saw this movie for the first time a few weeks before my 23 birthday. My birthday falls on September 14. 9 14 = 23. Coincidence? Well, yes, but it's still kinda cool.
Jim Carrey plays dog catcher Walter Sparrow who has a pretty wife named Agatha (played aptly by Virginia Madsen) and a good-kid Robin (played Logan Lerman). A late call and a dog bite cause him to be late meeting his wife on his birthday, and as such she has time to pick a book up off the shelf and read it before she gives it to him for his birthday. The book is called The Number 23 and was written by Topsy Kretts (Top Secrets). Almost as soon as the book is introduced, so is a double plot line. This introduces Jim Carrey's other character, Fingerling, a police detective with a decidedly dark side. Fingerling's lover is also played by Virginia Madsen (in a dark wig), a dark Italian beauty called Fabrizia.
Both Sparrow and Fingerling are introduced to the number 23 and the mathematical oddities that it seemingly represents (if you want to know more about that, check it out here). Both characters start to spiral into seeming madness shortly after that, and to tell much more would be... telling.
The crux of the matter, and the reason I am so mixed about this movie, is that the Walter Sparrow storyline (which is the main storyline) is not as much fun to watch, entertaining, or interesting as the Fingerling storyline. I think there are a couple of reasons. I think Carrey had a lot more fun playing Fingerling (complete with a huge tattoo that I find pretty cool looking). The Fingerling plot-line has better dialog, and seems to be more well-written. Also, the way that the Fingerling plot-line is filmed is slicker, in a visual sense, then the Sparrow angle. It's a fun storyline, it's entertaining, and when the main storyline cuts in, it feels like an interruption. All the parts are well-acted, but the sub-plot is just better than the main storyline.
If they had taken the Fingerling storyline and made it into a film, I think it would have been very successful indeed. They would have had to flesh it out a lot, but it would have been entertaining and fun to watch, instead of a disappointment. And there could have been sequels. I keep hoping that Joel Schumacher will call 'mulligan' and redo the whole thing, although I know how likely that is (this movie did abysmally, and Jim Carrey subsequently dropped his agent and I bet he never even glances at the movie if he passes it in the store). The worst part is that the ending of the Fingerling plot-line is staggeringly unsatisfying, and that loose end is still nagging at me.
This is a movie that fell apart because the sub-plot was cooler than the plot, and in the end I didn't care about Walter Sparrow, I wanted to know more about Fingerling. It might be worth catching if you see it in the dollar bin, or you get a cheap rental one night. It's nothing you should go out of your way to catch.
As a final note, I saw this movie for the first time a few weeks before my 23 birthday. My birthday falls on September 14. 9 14 = 23. Coincidence? Well, yes, but it's still kinda cool.
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Comment by Jason King
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Comment by Harry
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Comment by Damo
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My Apologetics
The plot had lots of holes and leaps of implausible faith but kept moving fast enough not to notice.
What I like was the humanity of the struggle verses the escapist noir of the subplot.
However I am only tempted to see it once.
Comment by Morgan Bell
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it is one of those movies you want to demand your money back and regret wasting hours of your time!
no wonder Jim Carrey dropped his agent, the script was really poor
Comment by JohnDoe
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The premise was intriguing, but I agree with your assessment that the screenplay drops the ball and in the end the narrative just eats it self with glaring contradictions...just plain bad storytelling of the most predictable and weak kind. (The nail in the coffin for a thriller when there is no sense of mystery after 15 minutes.)
Comment by Bethany
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