Joel Schumacher + Jim Carrey + bad script = the
worst film of 2007 so far.
On his birthday, dogcatcher Walter Sparrows (Jim
Carrey) is given a book by his wife titled "The Number
23". It's a pulp story about a detective named Fingerling
who's obsessed by the number 23 and bears an uncanny resemblance
to Walter. Soon, Walter is obsessed with both the book and the
number 23, and is determined to track down the book's mysterious
author for answers.
There's a potentially good concept here, but Fernley
Phillips' screenplay is an incoherent mess, not to mention silly
and contrived. Director Schumacher (Batman & Robin,
The Phantom of the Opera) tries to cover up the script's
deficiencies with flashy lighting and overwrought direction,
but that just makes the flaws all the more apparent to anyone
with an IQ higher than, well, 23. The noir-inspired story within
the story plays like a tawdry parody of the real thing. Nothing
in the film works well enough to convince the audience to buy
into it for even a second. The lighting of cinematographer Matthew
Libatique (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain) is excellent,
albeit wasted on this hackwork film.
Carrey looks uncomfortable as both Sparrows and
Fingerling, and is unconvincing when he tries to be sinister.
He may have some cool tattoos as Fingerling, but that's not
enough to make Carrey believable as a tough detective. When
he's worked with good directors of actors, Carrey has proven
himself capable of good performances before, but under the
direction of a visual stylist like Schumacher he's like a
drowning man trying to find something to grasp onto. Virginia
Madsen fares better with solid performances as Sparrows' wife
and Fingerling's lover, but it's Logan Lerman as the Sparrows'
son who gives the best performance. Poor Danny Huston has
a "close my
eyes and think of the money" look on his face the entire
film as a friend of Sparrows' wife.
Was there ever a point when Schumacher or Carrey
wondered what they'd gotten themselves into? For the audience,
that point comes very early in the film. Unless your hobbies
include doing MST3K-style rips on bad films, stay far away from
The Number 23.
