At least an attempt was made at something original.

Rating: Null/10 (17 September 2007)

Forget 23. 14 is the number we should all wonder about:
1. Tim Robbins's I.Q. is - allegedly - 14.
2. Sean Penn's I.Q. is - allegedly - 41.
3. The average number of brain cells of viewers who vote like those two is 1414.
4. "Mystic River", a movie which features both Penn and Robbins, was released in 2003. (I said forget 23!) 2+3 = 5. 5 = 1+4.
5. The number of lines of cocaine Penn and Robbins each sniff in on an average weekend (when they should be learning to read and write instead): 7. 2x7 = 14
Considering Schumacher made it, the movie is quite solid, not bad at all. Interesting, though not gripping, original enough, and visually good.
Of course, there are some (logic) problems: why does the shrink react so melodramatically and slash his own neck - immediately - upon seeing Carrey? That's a pretty drastic reaction even for a shrink-turned-loon. Why all the nonsense scenes with the all-present dog? If the movie wanted to be supernatural it should have gone that route instead of the thriller route.
I was a little disappointed the movie became a thriller. At least there were no cops and serial killers, but must every movie have a murder case at its core? Is that all that happens among humans that is relevant/interesting? But the biggest problem is how Madsen found the book. The script-writer obviously noticed this flaw (probably very late), so he tried to neutralize it by having Carrey say that "the book found HER". That doesn't exactly help, and it's utterly insufficient. Again: the movie did not take the supernatural route hence this kind of destiny nonsense simply won't wash. And besides, didn't Carrey say at the very end that "there is no such things as destiny"? The odds of Madsen finding Carrey's book - which must have been published with only 5 copies or something - and then giving it to him for his birthday are almost as small as that of Susan Sarandon accidentally writing a Shakespeare play even if we give her an eternity to do it and a million typewriters (and a billion monkeys to help out).