The number 23 ... more like 16
All the other headline number-puns were taken
NICK MACMAHON
COURTESY OF NEW LINE CINEMA
I turned 23 in January. I was six years old when I lost my virginity, 2x3=6. Jesus had 12 disciples, if you add 11 to that . . . you get the point. The majority of creativity that went into new film The Number 23 was unfortunately spent on coming up with meaningless so-called coincidences like these.
The movie opens with a typewriter font of countless illegible number-23 conspiracy theories amidst opening credits, while drops of blood splatter and stain each page. It’s all enhanced by a demented electronic sample with a slow, hypnotic beat. Little does the audience realize that this is the most stimulating scene in the entire movie.
It all starts off like a Jim Carrey family comedy. He plays Walter Sparrow, a middle-class animal control worker who is happily married to his wife Agatha (Virginia Madsen, of Sideways) with a teenage son. There are a few laughs, putting the audience at ease — an attempt to frighten the audience that much more in later scenes. The key word here is “attempt.” Due to
Directed by Joel Schumacher
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2.3 stars out of 5
staffa series of unfortunate events, Sparrow arrives late to a rendezvous with Agatha at a bookstore, forcing her to start reading an obscure novel, appropriately titled The Number 23.
Believable? Not really. When was the last time you were drawn mysteriously to a novel by an obscure author, with no credentials and no record of existing? Sparrow is even more captivated than his wife, so he buys it and practically forms a religion around it. He feels a connection to the author, as many events in the author’s life mirror his, and of course, he starts seeing the number everywhere. The question then becomes, is he just paranoid or is there some truth behind it all? The film ultimately leads to a disappointing plot twist that leaves the audience feeling betrayed.
The Number 23 is almost single-handedly ruined by the directorial style of Joel Schumacher. The bulk of the movie is a weak parallel story provided by the novel Sparrow is reading. He imagines himself an alter ego, as a detective investigating murders surrounding this number 23 and how it drives people to kill. The names of the characters are downright cheesy — Detective Fingerling and his wife Fabrizia (Agatha’s goth porn star alter-ego). The scenes take on a Sin City look with dead colours, high black and white contrast and dark red blood. Attempts to add an element of darkness to the movie (S-and-M sex scenes, for example) result, quite unintentionally, in overly dramatized side-comedy. Schumacher’s flamboyant direction of Batman Forever nearly destroyed the Batman franchise and this film may have done the equivalent to Carrey’s career.
The script allows only Carrey to stand out in this movie; there is little room left for Madsen to show off her capabilities. Carrey pulls off the paranoia well and has the audience fearing his erratic behavior, instead of laughing with him. His exaggerated acting in the pathetic parallel detective story, however, stifles the power of his best scenes. But if Carrey can survive the failed Enron satire Fun with Dick and Jane, then maybe he can pull through and dazzle audiences once again.
The concept of numerology (the study of numerical significance in people’s lives) is fascinating and the movie had many opportunities to explore the subject. However, like most thrillers pertaining to the paranormal, The Number 23 sheds no new light on the disrespected field, making it continuously embarrassing for me to bring up in casual conversation.
