The Number 23 [Blu-ray] | ![The Number 23 [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51M%2BPSIA1qL._SL500_.jpg)
| Director: Joel Schumacher
Actors: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins
Studio: New Line Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $28.99
Buy New: $18.26
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Seller: inetvideo
Rating:  140 reviews
Sales Rank: 47893
Format: Color, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 1000094188
UPC: 794043131561
EAN: 0794043131561
ASIN: B002CVQAXQ
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: October 6, 2009
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Features:
| • | Ever notice how phenomena and events tie to the number 23? Walter Sparrow has: 2012 (20+1+2), the end of the Mayan calendar 23 pairs of chromosomes in the human body February 3 (2/3), Walter s birthday. Here, there, everywhere, Walter sees connections. And it may be driving him to madness and murder. Jim Carrey puts aside his comedy persona to portray haunted, desperate Walter in an immersive psy |
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Product Description
Studio: New Line Home Video Release Date: 10/06/2009 Run time: 98 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
Jim Carrey as a schizophrenic murderer isn't convincing, in this melodramatic film about a man obsessed by the Number 23. Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, St. Elmo's Fire) has unintentionally managed to make a comedy of horrors that really is quite humorous in parts. Walter Sparrow (Carrey) becomes engrossed in a homespun novel about Detective Fingerling, whose life degrades into mayhem because of his obsession with 23's esoteric numerical puzzles. Sparrow's preoccupation with the book follows his botched attempt to catch a nasty dog that bites him, leading one to believe that Sparrow's contraction of rabies might be the cause for his mental degradation. As the story progresses, Sparrow retreats further into Fingerling's world, rife with suicidal sexpots and hardboiled detective sleuthing. His wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen), also plays Fingerling's girlfriend, sex-crazed Fabrizia, who taunts Fingerling until he stabs her. Back in reality, Walter aims to solve the unresolved crimes in the book, taking it as a murderer's diary rather than as an imagined work. The story is half-baked, though Carrey's portrayal of a mentally disturbed person is what makes The Number 23 comedic. Long, contemplative stares, and over-dramatized acting renders Sparrow a clichéd character, rather than one odd enough to engage viewers. For a better version of almost the exact plot but with a terrorist's twist, see Thr3e instead. --Trinie Dalton
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 140
The 23rd letter of the alphabet is "W" and it stands for "W.T.F.?" February 14, 2010
Zoe Paris (Beverly Hills, CA USA)
First of all, is this a drama? A thriller? A mystery? A wannabe film noir? A black comedy? It has elements of all these but something tells me it wasn't meant as a comedy! Jim Carrey's attempt at a "serious" movie didn't quite work out the way everyone hoped. I kept waiting for the big joke to come...the point when it became so ridiculous that I would burst out laughing going "Oh I get it!" and realize it all had one big hilarious punch line...But that didn't happen. By the end I was laughing because I was like, "Were they REALLY serious about this?" It wasn't so much that Jim was playing a serious role, so much as he looked like HE honestly wanted to laugh too.
The plot pretty much goes in all crazy directions before finally leading you to a predictable ending. The final resolution makes sense but it is a little anti-climactic in my opinion. Jim Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, an animal control officer living a normal married life. Things take a turn for the worse when his wife Agatha (Virgina Madsen, she did a great job in the dual role as wife/femme fatale so the movie wins a star there) gives him a book for his birthday.
The book "The Number 23" is about a detective named Fingerling who is cursed by...you guessed it...the number 23! (insert cheesy ominous music here) Soon Walter notices strange parallels between himself and the Fingerling character and are you ready for this?...The number 23 keeps popping up EVERYWHERE in Walter's life from his birthday to his address, his name...You get the idea. In fact he finds so many similarities between himself and this psycho, murdering Fingerling character that he is positive (gasp) "someone" who knows him well must have written it. Walter does find out who wrote the book but for anyone who is perceptive, it is pretty obvious early on.
This WAS a pretty bad movie but certainly not the worst I have seen. I actually found it quite entertaining though I admit it was for all the wrong reasons! I have a warped sense of humor and I am a fan of "So bad they're good" movies. This wasn't bad enough to be good but I still had a few laughs. If you like to laugh at movies this does have potential. I would LOVE to see a Rifftrax made for this film!
Anyone that could play this part with a straight face deserves some credit! Jim...you HAD to know this was bad, seriously! The Fingerling detective role was especially cheesy and laughable, almost like a comic book character. We also get to see a tattooed, freaky Jim Carey playing Fingerling and Virginia Madsen playing the femme fatale "Fabritzia" character (in a black wig) doing some crazy, stylized sex scenes.
The movie did have a cool, creepy vibe and I liked the WAY it was filmed. This movie really didn't have to suck. It was a good idea and it probably had a decent budget, it was just poorly written and poorly executed. If it had a better plot this could have been a great movie. Personally, I think it would have been better with a crazier ending. It was a crazy, unrealistic movie so why should the ending make sense? The rest of it sure didn't! It had some gore, especially in the dream sequences but unless you find blood `shocking' you probably won't be frightened. They should have made it scarier. Numbers aren't scary...but wait...I WAS very torn on my rating. I could not decide if I wanted to give this a 2 or 3 star...2? 3? NOOOOO! The number 23 is after me!
Anyway, rent this before you buy it for sure! Unless you are a die-hard Jim Carrey fan you probably won't like this. If you are a fan (like me) you might be entertained. I admit though it was more the fact that I was laughing AT the movie more than anything else! I am sure Jim Carrey was laughing all the way to the bank. Unfortunately in the case of this movie 2+3 does not= a 5 star movie, it mostly= A stinker! It is a somewhat funny stinker though...
 nice February 8, 2010
Denise Long (Albuquerque, NM)
It is a thrilling movie staring Jim Carry and his odd twisted obsession with the number 23. Finding it in everything in life he drives himself to insanity only to fine the truth about the number.
Surprisingly tolerable January 30, 2010
Ashtar Command (Stockholm, Sweden)
"Number 23" is a thriller starring Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen.
The plot revolves around a certain Walter Sparrow, who finds out that a novel his wife has given him as a birthday present seems to be about his own life! Unfortunately, the main character of the novel is a murderer with a strange obsession with the number 23. Naturally, Sparrow also develops the same obsession. As the plot thickens, it seems that a real murderer is on the loose, and that somebody very close to Sparrow himself wrote the novel. Before he goes completely insane, Sparrow has to find the real killer, reveal the author of the mysterious novel, and get rid of his paranoid obsession with 23...
I agree with many other reviewers that "Number 23" could have been much, much better. It's not the best movie around the block. Still, it's surprisingly tolerable. Also, the concept is interesting and contains several unexpected twists and turns. At first, I was annoyed by Jim Carrey, who is really a comic actor. However, he is quite good at portraying a paranoiac - at least a Hollywood stereotype paranoiac.
My main problem with "Number 23" are the loose ends and illogical situations. I didn't understand what on earth the dog named Ned has to do with the plot! Since the murder Sparrow is investigating took place 13 years earlier, it can't possibly be the same dog. Dogs don't live that long...
However, if you can swallow these kinds of inconveniences, you might nevertheless find "Number 23" interesting.
According to Wikipedia, there actually are conspiracy theorists who believe that the number 23 has esoteric significance. It does not. THE REAL SECRET NUMBER IS 666.
:-o
Kidding.
Doesn't Quite Cut It... Literally November 13, 2009
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
A serial killer can't easily become a preschool teacher. The same can be said for an actor with a successful history in comedy, who tries to bust through that shirt and sign up for a serious role in a movie.
In other words, Jim Carry is a cool guy, but whoever decided that he should flip the lid and take on a very serious and dark role was, frankly, a stupid one. Even looking at the movie cover is ridiculous- you see the funnyman himself with numbers carved into his skin, and it looks funny. Not scary. Wrong effect for a scary movie, unless the expectations have changed.
Really, I believe this movie would have done better with a different actor in the lead role as the 23-obsessed murderer, Walter Sparrow. It's an interesting idea- dealing with the 23 enigma- and with some twinges with the plot and dialogue, it would have come over much better. But don't get me wrong- considering this is his first dramatic role, Carry did alright, I guess. It was just the fact he was so ill-fit for the movie!
And even though I didn't really like this movie for some of the ridiculous plot twists, harsh language, and dark, almost disturbing scenes, I liked it enough to make a review. I did admire some of the computer effects, like when they used it to tell the story of Fingerling, who is the main character in the book, The Number 23, in which Walter Sparrow (Carry) finds odd similarities with. I also love the Suicide Blond scene- it struck me as incredibly unique and beautiful, and the high point of the movie for me.
However, the movie was confusing, ridiculous at some points, and downright disturbing. But I'll tell you what, the day after I watched this movie, I was startled by the freakiest things.
I was riding to school, and I passed by a city bus, with 23 on the flashing numbers on its face. I thought that was pretty cool, and when I was walking into school, I even passed by a school bus- bus 23. But that was all I experienced... even then, it was weird, because I realized that the main idea of the film- what if- was the most exciting thing about it. See, those numbers would have meant nothing if I hadn't watched this the night before. So was it a coincidence, or not?
Ha- see, THAT'S why I thought this movie deserved a review, because it leaves the viewer slightly disturbed, no matter how much they love to deny it.
 Skip it September 20, 2009
L Gontzes (Athens, Greece)
The Number 23 was quite a disappointment; so painfully slow, it failed to catch my attention all the way until the very middle, which was when I just gave up and turned it off.
A dog catcher (slightly reminiscent of Ace Ventura) reads a book his wife gets him for his birthday about a detective who is obsessed with the number 23 and so he too becomes obsessed with that number. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
In short, the acting is all right (though nothing great, Jim Carrey is same old Jim Carrey i.e. boring), while the plot and the dialogues are below average.
Though the potential for a good movie was there it fails to take off, primarily due to the writers and the poor choice of lines and weak plot.
No masterpiece here...
Showing reviews 1-5 of 140
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