So much average

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

I never write reviews, but this movie prompted me to.There is some pretty bad writing in The Number 23:Carrey, Narrator: "Time is just...numbers with a meaning attached to them."Carrey, Narrator: "She said she was a good person once. But now?" Suicide Blonde: "I'm a bad person." -- I laughed here.Carrey, Narrator: "I was right. She was in danger. I just didn't realize the danger was me."Later, Carrey tranquilizes a dog in a cemetery. A priest and a groundskeeper (the dog's owner) come out of nowhere, and Carrey asks the groundskeeper why he named the dog Ned. At no point does anyone ask why this man is shooting dogs with tranquilizers (he doesn't identify himself as animal control). Instead, they answer Carrey's questions and chat with him like a casual acquaintance.Anyway, I have to mention the pacing of this movie: It's probably one of its biggest flaws. Like 25 (23??) minutes in, Carrey's character is essentially a firm believer in the whole conspiracy. That. is. WAY. too. fast. The movie doesn't try at all to get you in the main character's head-space. So at 37 minutes, when Carrey asks his friend, of the number 23, "is it God?" I couldn't help but roll my eyes.It's not only how fast Carrey "believes," it's how little it takes for him to be pushed off the deep end. Carrey's two characters are drowning in a bunch of confirmation bias, which comes across more as ridiculous than spooky or suspenseful. The Hiroshima bomb was dropped at so- and-so time, which adds up to 23. Okay? What time was the Nagasaki bomb dropped?On the topic of the plot: It's much too easy to foresee the twist ending just shy of the hour mark. In the movie's book, the murderer (Carrey) gets away because the lover senselessly picks up the knife and gets his finger prints on it. At 55 minutes, Carrey says that the killer in real life from 15 years ago was discovered because his finger prints were all over the knife, HEAVILY implying that the convict, like the character in the book, was framed.There's also a major plot hole at the end of the movie. The hospital that Carrey is committed to runs through his family history, finding out that his father committed suicide. They don't, however, find that his longtime girlfriend was recently murdered by stabbing? A nearly identical case to the one in his book?Also a bus almost runs Carrey over at the end because it never slows down, despite seeing Carrey in the street from at least half a block away. Then it speeds on by when he steps out of the way, like a train would.

The title caught me. I came to IMDb to see how many others had figured it out. I've combed through many pages of disparaging reviews but what I haven't found is any reference to Robert Anton Wilson's "Cosmic Trigger I: The Secret of the Illuminati". Perhaps the reason so many people didn't enjoy this movie is because it's a bit incomplete without that book. The references to the Illuminati in the opening credits were a subtle reference. Then the fact that the Doctor who treated young Sparrow was named...Dr. Sirius Leary is the big yellow arrow pointing to Robert Anton Wilson. The endless Jungian synchronicities in the movie just add to the fun. If you figured this out, congratulations. If not, you have now found your way to the real secret message in this movie which, if you choose, will lead you down the real rabbit hole. Big thumbs up to the writer, Fernley Phillips, though maybe he hid his inspiration a little too well, and it therefore went a little unappreciated. I'm sure there's a lot of Robert Anton Wilson's readers out there who's attention was caught by the title alone.

I think that most people will find this movie very interesting. Jim Carey really puts on a really good performance in this particular film, seeing how he rarely ever does anything except comedy or drama. He pulled off the part as a typical husband and father pretty well. Wait, or was that what he was? This movie is a huge twister.All these stories are twisted up into one plot. They're all about the same man, and they all come from this book, written by some guy that used the alias "Topsey Crets." Laaaaammme. In this novel, Jim Carey's character becomes more and more obsessed with the number 23. He starts to see it everywhere and in everything. It slowly drives him into insanity. The movie has really good all around acting and will sit good as a descent horror/mystery film. It gets predictable at the end, but Jim Carey becomes bad-ass in this movie. It really bring out the nut job in him, and he fits it well. This movie will blow your mind. You haven't seen obsession until you've seen this movie.

As an initial viewer back when The Number 23 was shown in theaters, there was a lot of anticipation that was only let down afterwards. Now after seven years, I thought I'd give The Number 23 another try since the plot escaped my head and the twist was forgotten. Unfortunately, there was no change in my feelings for this film, which is utter disappointment. There was so much potential for this film with its cool plot idea and solid cast. The plot line of everything in your life (birth date, address, social security, driver's id, etc.…) all adding up to the number 23 is an interesting concept. However, a non-interesting side story between pseudo-characters in a book with all around hideous acting and writing really shot down any possibilities this film had. The film did have the properties to make a great horror thrill but instead I found myself laughing at the ridiculousness of The Number 23.