2008 Woodie Awards
'23' falls flat
DALE EISINGER
Culture Writer
Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Culture
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Jim Carrey’s new movie, “The Number 23,” is full of similar arithmetic litanies. It centers on a man (Walter Sparrow, played by Carrey) who becomes obsessed with, you guessed it, the number 23. Sparrow derives 23 from all sorts of other numbers using seemingly arbitrary methods: he finds 23 in his name after giving letters number values, he finds 23 in his address, his social security number and in all sorts of random places, including street corners and license plates. It would be utterly amazing if this were a documentary, but seeing as it isn’t, the novelty wears off rather quickly. Of course this numeric obsession doesn’t come out of nowhere for Sparrow. After he is given a book with the same title as the film does he begin concocting ways to find 23. As the plot unfolds, Sparrow becomes sure that the book is a warped confession of a murder that happened when he was in college, and he becomes bent on finding the author. Spoilers aside, “The Number 23” wraps up with a predictable and highly-foreshadowed twist.
The choice of Sparrow as a role for Carrey has allowed him to sprinkle his performance with the backhanded sarcasm Carrey has recently been known for, injecting his humor into what would presumably be an austere role for him — this is, after all, billed as a thriller.
Sparrow is a truly “normal guy,” and the first act of the movie emphasizes just how routine (yet fulfilling) Sparrow’s life is. He has a beautiful wife and home, a loving son, a job that seems to serve a purpose and an incredibly sharp wit.
It seems like a great role for Carrey at first. The most true-to-life and admittedly heart-warming scenes are those in which he interacts with his family.
But as the story develops and Sparrow becomes more obsessed with the book and number, Carrey’s performance loses its sheen. His humor duly takes a backseat to a mediocre representation of a mind gone off track, losing steam as his attempts to portray obsession and madness continually fall flat.
It would be a fine part for an actor with a darker edge (Christian Bale might have been perfect) but Carrey simply lacks the intensity needed to make the contrast between the carefree and the manic Sparrow work.
Yet as Sparrow’s actions become more questionable, the laughs don’t stop. There are lines in the movie that are absurdly revealing in their attempt to tie the story together.
Couple this with Carrey’s watered-down madman delivery of them, and these scenes have the whole audience at least guffawing. This detached-audience syndrome was a theme throughout the flick.
Instead of gripping seats, the young, late-night audience checked watches and cell phones, munched absentmindedly on popcorn and even made out during scenes intended to be the most powerful.
All of this could have been accomplished at home, without the overextended math problems.
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Bobb999
posted 3/02/07 @ 9:28 AM MST
The Number 23 Enigma didn't begin with this movie!
Strange coincidences involving #23 were noticed by William S. Burroughs back in the early '60s, associated especially with death and disaster, often in the form of disaster headlines, such as "Montreal Apt. (Continued…)
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