The Number 23 [DVD] [2007]

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• This item: The Number 23 [DVD] [2007] DVD ~ Virginia Madsen

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• Premonition [DVD] [2007] DVD ~ Sandra Bullock

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  Dispatched from and sold by Amazon.co.uk.
  Eligible for FREE UK delivery on orders over £5 with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
  

Amazon.co.uk Review
Jim Carrey as a schizophrenic murderer isn't convincing, in this melodramatic film about a man obsessed by the Number 23. Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, St. Elmo's Fire) has unintentionally managed to make a comedy of horrors that really is quite humorous in parts. Walter Sparrow (Carrey) becomes engrossed in a homespun novel about Detective Fingerling, whose life degrades into mayhem because of his obsession with 23's esoteric numerical puzzles. Sparrow's preoccupation with the book follows his botched attempt to catch a nasty dog that bites him, leading one to believe that Sparrow's contraction of rabies might be the cause for his mental degradation. As the story progresses, Sparrow retreats further into Fingerling's world, rife with suicidal sexpots and hardboiled detective sleuthing. His wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen), also plays Fingerling's girlfriend, sex-crazed Fabrizia, who taunts Fingerling until he stabs her. Back in reality, Walter aims to solve the unresolved crimes in the book, taking it as a murderer's diary rather than as an imagined work. The story is half-baked, though Carrey's portrayal of a mentally disturbed person is what makes The Number 23 comedic. Long, contemplative stares, and over-dramatized acting renders Sparrow a clichéd character, rather than one odd enough to engage viewers. For a better version of almost the exact plot but with a terrorist's twist, see Thr3e instead. --Trinie Dalton

Synopsis
In Joel Schumacher’s psychological thriller THE NUMBER 23, Jim Carrey takes on another dramatic role. Carrey’s character is similar to his roles in THE TRUMAN SHOW and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND: he portrays an average man thrust into quite extraordinary situations after a series of strange events cause him to question everything he’s ever taken for granted. On his birthday, Walter Sparrow is given a mysterious and tattered book called THE NUMBER 23 by his loving wife, Agatha (Virginia Madsen). As Walter reads the book, he quickly notices its alarming similarities to his own life. Rather than stop reading, he continues, unknowingly inviting the book to take over his life. The deeper Walter gets into the plot, the more he sees himself in its protagonist, Fingerling, whom we see through highly stylized sequences in which Carrey appears as the seedy detective character. Madsen is also present in these scenes, cast as Fingerling’s pain-loving girlfriend Fabrizia. As Fingerling and Fabrizia’s love affair inches towards its fiery conclusion, we learn the role the number 23 has played in their story and will play in Walter’s future if he cannot keep his growing obsession with it at bay. While Carrey and Madsen are adept at playing a man gone mad and a headstrong wife in crisis, they are most fascinating as their dark counterparts, and Schumacher succeeds in creating a truly intoxicating noirish underworld of sex and death through those sequences.

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53 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (14) 3 star:  (9) 2 star:  (9) 1 star:  (14)           Average Customer Review 2.8 out of 5 stars (53 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   25 of 27 people found the following review helpful: 4.0 out of 5 stars Unfairly Chastized., 16 Jul 2007 By  R. J. Williams "Postie" (Clevedon, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)    I have to admit, my expectation's were pretty low for this flick.The reviews have been pretty scathing, and as it's director was Joel Schumacher, who brought us the pretty lamentable 'Batman And Robin' and '8mm', I really had my reservations. Well what a surprise, 'The Number 23' turned out to be quite an engaging thriller with a pretty smart script. Jim Carey stars as Walter Sparrow, who on his birthday is bought a book which soon takes over his life ,as becomes obsessed by the similarities the number 23 encompasses.Carey is an actor I have a lot of time for, not only in comedy but time and time again in more 'demanding' roles such as 'Man On The Moon', 'The Truman Show' and 'Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind'.Here again he holds his own with fine support from Virginia Madsen as his wife and Logan Lerman as their son Robin. The twist is very clever and fairly believable and rounds of what was a very decent and quite unfairly criticised film. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   15 of 16 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, 19 May 2008 By  KM (England) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)       `The Number 23' is about a dog catcher named Walter (Jim Carrey) who is given a book for his birthday about the life of a man named "Fingerling" and his obsession with how everything is related to the number 23. After reading just a few pages Walter begins to believe that the story is written about his life due to so many similarities and then he also starts to become obsessed with the number 23 too. This is a very dark and serious role for the rubber-faced Carrey and he does actually play the part very well, but the film is just pretty bad in general with nothing that really surprised me, excited me or made me really think I'd ever watch it again. I'm a big fan of thriller films and books and the story is ok but it's just filmed in such a strange way that I just couldn't put my finger on what I didn't like about it, it just didn't meet my expectations at all as it had the potential to be a really good psychological thriller. Overall I think this is one that is worth watching if you catch it on TV or borrow it from someone, but I'd not recommend buying it as you won't watch it again. Very disappointing and it could have been so much better. The whole number 23 theories did however get me thinking a lot and since watching this I've thought of so many things which have worked out to be that mysterious number. Spooky! Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   12 of 13 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Different, but not different enough, 2 Aug 2007 By  Mr. S. J. Downing "Stevie D" (Devon, UK) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Jim Carrey plays Walter Sparrow, a man whose surburban wife-'n'-teenage-kid life begins to unravel when he comes into contact with a mysterious book which carries the title of the film: Number 23. The tatty, self-published novel triggers a feverish numerological obsession in Sparrow, who begins to see associations with the number everywhere he looks. The more he reads, the more he becomes drawn into the gloomy, seedy world of the book's author, with whom Sparrow identifies heavily. Moreover, it becomes apparent that the book's author is not just an author of a disturbing book, but that he or she was involved in a grizzly crime. The film culminates in a confusing whodunnit/goose-chase. I've seen the 'unexpected twist' of who the culprit is so many times in other recent films that I remember commenting on it before having seen Number 23. If that's a spoiler, then the film-making studios are to blame for overusing this particular trendy theme to a ludicrous degree. I can't imagine I'm the only one who thought "not again!" I find numerology to be laughable nonsense, but moments in this film left me with genuine unease as Sparrow continued his downwards mental spiral in pursuit of the number. There are some splendid pieces of camera work and general cinema wizardry in this film, particularly the clever juxtapositions of Sparrow's bright and orderly life and the shadowy, grimy world that the book reveals to him. There is an element of style over substance in Number 23, though. It never grounds itself long enough to become, if not believable, than at least a world in which the viewer can become immersed. Carrey has come a long way since his Mask and Ace Ventura days. He's successfully left behind the endless aping and gurning that put a lot of people off in his early days, without sacrificing the energy and screen presence that make his material infectiously watchable. Long may the man behind the Mask continue to develop and flourish. Although he might seem like an odd choice for a noirish film like this, his performance as the character increasingly tormented by the ever-present number is just the ticket. Good for Carrey and visuals, but generally forgettable otherwise. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 53 customer reviews...		Most Recent Customer Reviews 3.0 out of 5 stars DARK DRAMA.................................. Walter Sparrow (Carrey) is given a book "The Number 23" by his wife and becomes obsessed with the number. Read more Published 5 months ago by L. Hay 4.0 out of 5 stars Unexpectedly good! I've been wanting to see this film for ages but been putting it off due to the bad reviews on here. Well last night I watched it and was very pleasantly surprised, I actually... Read more Published 8 months ago by Bookworm 5.0 out of 5 stars 23 This film is amazing. It has a great story line , great plot and a great soundtrack. It kept me hooked till the end and when you find out what happens at the end your like 'WTF'... Read more Published 10 months ago by David Byrne 4.0 out of 5 stars Kept me hooked I had no idea what this film was about as someone recommended I watch it. Recently I've ended up fast forwarding through quite a few rented movies and so it was a pleasure to be... Read more Published 12 months ago by A. P. Greaves 5.0 out of 5 stars Quality I was and still am i fan of jim careys comedy films and had never seen in a role different and it worked. Read more Published 13 months ago by Ms. L. C. Cumming 2.0 out of 5 stars watchable but nothing more the number 23 was released in 2007 to mixwed reviews,the reviews here are very mixed also with more of a negative feel prevailing though,i feel this film has a good idea,a good... Read more Published 14 months ago by sean paul mccann 4.0 out of 5 stars Tremendously well written One of the key criteria for a half decent film is a strong and unpredictable ending. Tick Also, if changes in the storyline physically make you sit up in surprise and... Read more Published 15 months ago by A. Williams Tarling 3.0 out of 5 stars Ok film Number 23 trys to be clever and twisty but ends up being a bit of a muddle. At first Jim Carrey seems to be playing for laughs as the inept dog catcher, but soon his character... Read more Published 15 months ago by Charles Gosling 1.0 out of 5 stars film with a dark heart This film has a dark heart and has nothing positive about it. It is self consciously "clever"; whilst taking the viewer on an utterly pointless journey. Read more Published 16 months ago by Mr. Robert Kelly 3.0 out of 5 stars all in all an enjoyable film (=23) I'd seen trailers for this film which looked mildly interesting, and having enjoyed some of Carrey's more serious roles, I decided to give it a watch. Read more Published 16 months ago by Christopher Withers Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 53 customer reviews...

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