THE NUMBER 23 *

It turns out lots of people think there's some real significance to the number 23. Enough so they've written books about it. There are fans of LOST who feel the number has significance in that plot. It's even true in this case as 3-2=1 and that seems about right for the star rating.

This film brings the number into focus when the wife (Virginia Madsen) of a dogcatcher (Jim Carrey) buys him a used book which details the life of an individual who feels the number 23 is making him do things...bad things. Carrey finds an eerie similarity to his life and starts finding the number 23 is significant in his life also (the day he met his wife, the day of their marriage, etc.). As he studies the book more thoroughly he decides it's actually the confession of a murderer and that an innocent man has been imprisoned for that murder. He becomes obsessed with discovering the identity of the real murderer and seeing the innocent man freed.

This had the potential for being a real edge-of-the-seat thriller. Unfortunately, it's just silly. It gives the impression that someone decided what the ending would be and then worked backwards to develop the plot. I can't tell you why without spoiling the story, but the ending makes no sense at all which is too bad since the film spends ten-fifteen minutes explaining all that's taken place. Production values are good and the cast is fine, although Carrey is the weakest link, but all is wasted on this story.