Get Obsessed!

Rating: 8/10 (5 August 2007)

The tale of obsession begins with a bored man-next-door getting his hands on a book gifted by his wife on his birthday. As the pages are turned one by one, he finds that the book begins to mystify his very being. It quotes events similar to the ones that he remembers to have had happened in his own life. With the book leading him through the mysterious maze of events, he deliberately enters an obsession. His battle in and out of that obsession is "The Number 23".
Its a surprise gift by Joel Schumacher. The director who is famous for glorifying Batman in Batman Forever and also responsible for the closure of the franchise with his infamous Batman and Robin. He has provided an intellectual treatment to the script which is expected of David Fincher, Tony Scott and the likes. Nevertheless, the touch is fresh. Immense amount of interesting research has gone into make this movie. Several interesting subjects like the Number Theory, Obsessive Psychological Behaviour and many have been discussed in a crowd-engaging style. Schumacher is at his smoothest with screenplay and direction.
The addition of matured scenes, though befitting the violent emotional web, are more than adequate. Probably they were left like that to draw in a large audience. The induction of the obsession from one person to another is portrayed like possession which could draw varied opinions from the audience. The fact that a mind that remembers a disturbed long past, will also remember the obsession and the recent past, is completely neglected, which causes a camouflaged flaw in the screenplay.
Cinematography and Art Direction has brightened the script vividly. This could easily be the most challenging role in Virginia Madsen's career. She has performed like a natural. Long way to go, Madsen. The real jewel of the movie is the performance by the man who has commanded our laughter for nearly 2 decades. Jim Carrey has intemperately rendered an exceptionally perplexed role with such fluidity that he has made us bow to all the emperors commanding the artistic prowess of the genre in which he was born on-screen. Comedy. An actor who masters comedy, masters it all. Isn't it so true?
The Number 23. Obsession at its best.