Torn on this one

Rating: 5/10 (7 May 2007)

I'm torn on this one. Exactly 50-50. I did enjoy it, and the first half is great and full of ideas and atmosphere, but then "The Number 23" gets dafter and dafter, sillier and sillier, and more and more overwrought as it progresses. It's definitely a stew of a film. (That might not be too bad if you like a good stew.) A mix of mathematics, paranoid conspiracy, supernatural, murder mystery and private dick/femme fatale fantasies. I thought it had passing echoes of films like "Angel Heart" (which I think is a little masterpiece) and "Conspiracy Theory" (which I don't).
I do like Jim Carrey, but I don't know if he was the right actor for the lead in this film. My lady really hates Jim Carrey's gurning, rubber faced, loon roles (her words). Hell, I don't mind the "Ace Ventura" films or "Liar, Liar" or "Me, Myself And Irene" or "Bruce Almighty" et al, they are what they are. But at his best ("Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind" , "Man On The Moon" and "The Truman Show") he can be brilliant.
Jim Carrey fan letter over.