Despite tanking at the box office & being universally skewered by nearly every critic in the country, "The Number 23" isn't as bad as you think it's gonna be, nor is it as great as it could have been. Yeah, Jim Carrey is miscast, the movie's too long & the story is sometimes unintentionally funny, but it's also kind of interesting at times, and does a decent job making you forget that, plotwise, it's often much ado about nothing.

Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, a mild-mannered dog catcher whose wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen), gives him a tattered copy of a self-published novel she found at a used book store. The book, titled "The Number 23" features a hard-boiled detective, Fingerling (also played by Carrey in a parallel storyline), driven to madness after becoming obsessed with that enigmatic number as it begins to constantly appear, through numerals, dates, letters, etc. Seeing similarities between himself and Fingerling, Walter soon sees the number everywhere, too (as well a an 'ominous' dog that lives with a local undertaker), and becomes similarly obsessed. What does the number mean? Well, we're never made quite clear what is so terrifying about 23, or why Sparrow/Fingerling thinks the number itself is out to get him, but the book & number eventually offer Walter clues to the murder of a young college girl 15 years ago, and an incarcerated man accused of the crime. "The Number 23" works in fits and starts. At first, we're intrigued at the various clever ways the number keeps appearing in the story, but it gets repetitive after awhile, especially since it starts happening so often that it's no longer menacing. And, as one of the characters themselves even states, if you try hard enough, you can find just about ANY number if you're looking for it. Pretty soon, it's like watching these characters play a numerical version of the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game. The story also tries to be both an ominous horror story and psychological thriller. When dealing with Walter's obsession with the number, the film sort of works, and offers a nifty twist ending actually makes a lot of sense from a story perspective. That is, until we're asked to believe there really are supernatural forces at work, most amusingly in the scenes involving the dog. Once we're made aware that this dog's significance isn't NOT just a figment of Walter's imagination, the story falls apart. Though he has proven to be a solid dramatic actor in films like "The Truman Show" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind", Carrey is all wrong for the part. He tries hard, but we just don't buy him as a tattooed, tough-as-nails detective in the "book" sequences. His numerous S&M sex scenes with a femme fatale (also played by Madsen) are unintentionally funny, mainly because we know we're watching Jim Carrey humping away. Director Joel Schumacher has never made what anyone would a call a great film ("A Time to Kill" came close), but he's always made great looking films, and this one is no exception. I especially like the visual contrast between Walter's mundane suburban life and the surreal film-noir look of Fingerling's world.

The film is presented in 2.35:1 enhanced widescreen, and for the most part, it's a really impressive, visually striking picture, with effective & accurate washed-out colors for the 'book' & flashback scenes, which nicely contrast the 'real' segments. The audio is rendered in 5.1 EX Dolby Surround, and features good balance and clarity.

Both the R-rated and unrated cuts are included on this disc. One of the things I really love about New Line's "InfiniFilm" discs is the Fact Track option, which allows you to watch the movie while various info, production details & trivia pops up at the bottom of the screen. Watching in this mode also gives you periodic opportunities to access various relevant information about a scene, character, actor or production detail from the documentaries included. Only the unrated cut has this option. Other features include an audio commentary by Schumacher, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and several documentaries (the same stuff of which can be accessed while watching in Infinifilm mode, both about the movie and, of course, the number 23.

"The Number 23" isn't a great movie. It tries too hard to be both a thriller and a horror story. Had it been strictly a psychological thriller about obsession, this could have been something really special. But, despite some unnecessary plot elements, unintentional humor and the glaring miscasting of Carrey in the lead, the movie is atmospheric and occasionally does a good job making the number of its title seem more menacing than it really is. Worth renting. Similar Movies: "Jacob's Ladder"; "Vanilla Sky"; "Stay"