Jim Carrey Cannot Quite Breathe Life Into This Dopey Thriller

Rating: 3/10 (18 March 2017)

The Number 23 is a psychological thriller from director Joel Schumacher, and while the film contains an interesting premise and a juicy role for its star, it never coalesces into the taught adult entertainer it is trying to be.
The story focuses on Jim Carrey's Walter Sparrow, a dog-catcher whose life is soon thrown into turmoil as he begins reading a book titled "The Number 23". The book seems to be based on his own life, and it details the seemingly supernatural aura surround the number 23. Through his reading, Walter begins to obsess over 23. The plot makes more than a few major leaps in logic in order to spice up Walter descent into madness. I won't say these logical forgivings are deal breakers. In fact, there are some neat ideas in The Number 23 (The hook about the titular number is at least mildly intriguing), but Schumacher and company don't do enough to mold these ideas into something entertaining.
Jim Carey is the main attraction here, turning in a rare dramatic performance. Carrey has an excellent track record with dramatic material (The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), but here the focus of those three wonderful movies is not there. Walter as a character has no defining character traits beyond obsessive or psychotic. Carrey tries his best to energize the role, and he is the most interesting part of the film, but his performance is really nothing special and it certainly doesn't make the plot any less silly.
I think Joel Schumacher is often unfairly criticized for directing the worst film interpretation of one of the most popular superheroes ever. Schumacher is a competent director and he can (and has) done great things when paired with good material. In The Number 23, he is lost. This film treads just too close to Lifetime movie territory. The emotional beats never quite hit, the story is clumsy, and the characters are foggy archetypes. The Number 23 has an interesting Jim Carrey performance and it made me look at 23 in a new way (which is something), but there is not much to recommend with this messy thriller.
35/100