DVD Review - “The Number 23″
GRADE: F
WARNING: “The Number 23″ is so bad you may end up becoming one of those people who rips a movie apart out loud as it unfolds. You may also start to laugh uncontrollably as the ridiculous plot unfolds before your eyes. You will marvel at the purely awful dialog and you may even find yourself playing along as if the premise of “The Number 23″ were a game in which you try to dispel the set up and plausibility of the movie. But, I should have known better from the get go, famous hack director Joel Shumacher has once again created another turd for his filmography of crap (”Flawless”, “Batman & Robin”, “Batman Forever”, “Phonebooth”, “Bad Company”, “Phantom of the Opera”, “8MM”, “A Time to Kill”, “Dying Young”).
Am I being to harsh on this film? No, go watch it and then re-read this review. If you watched this film and you did not at least sigh, snicker or laugh during a “serious” or “tense” scene, then you are pretty out of tune with what is good cinema. I was able to unravel and see the “trick ending” a mile away. If you hate M. Night Shyamalan, then you will loathe this “Sixth Sense” trick ending wannabe with a passion. Never has a trick or secret in a movie been so blatantly ridiculous and obvious! It is pretty offensive the way Director Shumacher and the screenwriter try to manipulate emotion and tension. I have two words, “Topsy Krets”. You will know what I mean when you see this turkey.
It is so sad to see such great talent like Jim Carey wasted in expensive Hollywood drivel like “The Number 23″. I hope he at least got a pretty big paycheck for this role, because he doesn’t even look as if he understands the role he is playing, or the plot for that matter. Not even Virginia Madsen can make this movie watchable. She looks half asleep and just as confused as the viewer in this film.
After a while I got a kick out of laughing at some of the more serious parts of this film. And, I did enjoy picking apart all of the contradictions in “The Number 23″. But these mild amusements do not make this film worth watching by themselves. You may have more fun making a drinking game out of how many absurd ways the characters find the number 23, but then again you may get too drunk.
August 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 pm
and i thought this movie was good. i was interested in watching it. hmmmm…. so maybe i’ll still watch it and so i can see if what you’re saying is real.
November 20th, 2007 at 12:28 pm
[...] Let’s just say it was close to beating “The Number 23″ starring Jim Carey (click here to read my review of that awful film) as the worst film of 2007. If it wasn’t for the brief cameos by David Spade and Nick Swarsdon [...]