23 Times I Nearly Fell Asleep

Rating: 5/10 (19 November 2007)

Having seen many examples of well done film-noir classics, I could not help but feel as though there was something sadly missing in this film's attempts to evoke the same type of atmosphere as them, and after it ended I realized that this was because it lacked a logical plot, was filled with a sense of unreality and featured drab and unimaginative characterizations, all of which served to repel me from being able to engage with the film in a way that took me out of my living room in front of a TV and into it's world, something that it was trying to rely upon to successfully tell its story in an entertaining way.
Amongst its major plot elements though, it did have some charming moments but these were few and not enough to warrant a good review. Carey's skill as a dramatic actor is definitely more akin to these types of interactions rather than the serious and hard-boiled character he attempts to portray here. The incredulity of the plot also kept me at length from wanting to believe in the story. The 'significance' of the number 23 as a plot device struck me as trite, confused and downright illogical, as did the reactions of the other characters to its quasi-mystical significance, and the 'surprising plot twist' at the end of the film was a cliché that has been used too many times in these psychological thriller-type films over the last 10 years to have any substantial impact on a well-schooled viewing audience.
Jim Carey is a good comic actor and he has proved himself also capable of believability in the 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', however with this film his acting seems to be reaching to try to do something that perhaps, to me, his cinematic persona won't let him? I think that given the right roles Carey could offer the world some truly inspiring performances, but following the road this film is on won't bring that out of him.
The evocative cover art offered a 50-50 chance that it was going to titillate and excite me, and I hoped it would because Carey would be great to watch in a well-scripted and plotted thriller, but upon viewing this movie, at least 23 times during the ordeal I nearly fell asleep and considered turning it off.