The Number 23

movie iconI went and saw this movie Friday night. Up until Friday I was pumped to see this movie. The previews made it look so good (the point of previews, I know). It just seemed like it had a really good story and I thought Jim Carrey would be good in this type of thriller. I woke up Friday morning to see review after review bashing it. I was disappointed that the press was bashing the movie this much, especially since I was going to see it that night. So, on to what I thought of the movie…

The story wasn’t a bad story. It kept you interested and wondering what was really going on. The ending I think could have been better, but overall, the story wasn’t pretty decent. I think that if this was a book, it would have been a lot better. It reminds me of a Chuck Palahniuk (author of Fight Club) story that could have been developed so much more in print than it was on screen. Palahniuk would have made it a deeper story as well, showing how the main character was really just unhappy with his commercialized life, which is a common theme in Palahniuk’s writings. Jim Carrey was not bad in a thriller role. Though I use the term thriller loosely because there weren’t very many parts that made you jump or that genuinely surprised you. For those who have seen the movie, I didn’t buy his detective character. That just didn’t seem like a character he could pull off. The dog catcher/loving husband and father he pulled of very well. He just seemed a bit cheesy as the dark film noir detective. Speaking of darkness, this movie could have been a bit darker. It was directed by Joel Schumacher who I really don’t think of as a dark director. I mean, he directed Batman Forever and Batman & Robin. That’s not dark. That’s just stupid. Christopher Nolan or David Fincher would have been better directors for a story that is dark like this one is, but Schumacher didn’t do a terrible job. It was no Momento, but it was not Batman and Robin either. Overall I’d say this movie was just average, which is why many reviewers have been giving it a C grade. If I were you, I’d wait for it to come on DVD or cable/satellite.