A must watch, in a "one time only" kind of way......

Rating: 7/10 (27 May 2008)

Now as with most movies that are watched in a friend's basement at three in the morning, they always seem insanely great for that first thrill. Now of course, being it three in the morning, anything that isn't an infomercial would most likely thrill you. In my personal opinion, 23 was a good movie. A little bit better than just okay, but not exactly great. While it stayed with me for a few days after watching it, and while it made my friend a bit TOO paranoid a couple nights afterward, the second time around with 23 wasn't as amazing as i had remembered it. While it was nice to see Jim Carrey playing another role other than that of the nice funny shy guy, and while the story itself was different than i had thought it would be, something just didn't make the connection with me. Detective Fingerling seemed a bit to generic, as did all the other alter-egos that portrayed the people in Topsy Crets' uncanny book on Walter Sparrow's (Carrey) life. There were parts in the movie that were also just a little bit pointless (it might only be me, but i didn't quite see the whole purpose of the suicide blonde character). As confusing as parts of the movie were and how disappointing the ending was (Carrey finds out that Topsy Crets aka"top secrets" was really...himself. And that Carrey suffered from amnesia after a failed suicide attempt) The first three fourths are pretty great. The acting was good and the movie was filmed beautifully. If you have not seen this movie yet, I would still recommend watching it at least once if you see it on TV or come across it at a video store. If it still doesn't quite grab you the first time watching, check it out again in a dark quiet room in the wee hours of the morning. Everything just seems a little bit more mystifying that way.....