Not exploited enough

Rating: 6/10 (3 June 2007)

Like this year's "Next" with Nicholas Cage I can't stop but feel this movie had so much more to offer. Although the execution of the movie was somewhat superior to "Next", they both follow a really similar storyline AND they both failed to use what was laying around their backyards.
I missed those goose-bumpy feelings, the ones I get when something falls so perfectly into place that it simply couldn't have been done any better...after all "The number 23" is a thriller, and the 3rd act is always the most important...Sadly, the end result is too Hollywood for my taste, the idea of somebody writing a book and forgetting about it is pretty interesting, but it could have been done much better.
I missed more explanation behind the "infamous" number 23 itself, how it came to be, why it would pop out on every corner of human history etc, after all the movie revolves around it, and the whole ordeal simply felt just like an excuse to make a story for a movie...Sadly, it remained so throughout the whole movie.
I missed more of Jim Carrey's book narration, to me the absolute best part of this movie was when he starts reading it and narrates us through the author's words...that's when the movie really got my attention...Sadly, the remainder of the book doesn't come anywhere near these moments and looks and feels like about a gazillion other popular movies with flashbacks.
A movie, that like "Next" could have been a masterpiece had it been done 20-40 years ago by a more daring crew of filmmakers, a movie that like "Next" failed to explore the very interesting topic it imposes on us (quite stupid really) and a movie, that like "Next" bombed at the Box office....Destiny...?;)
MY MORAL OF THE STORY: A potentially good story for a movie is surprisingly rare to come by these days. The right people should know that it should be treated with the utmost care by a far superior director