The number 23

"Number 23" is a thriller starring Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen.

The plot revolves around a certain Walter Sparrow, who finds out that a novel his wife has given him as a birthday present seems to be about his own life! Unfortunately, the main character of the novel is a murderer with a strange obsession with the number 23. Naturally, Sparrow also develops the same obsession. As the plot thickens, it seems that a real murderer is on the loose, and that somebody very close to Sparrow himself wrote the novel. Before he goes completely insane, Sparrow has to find the real killer, reveal the author of the mysterious novel, and get rid of his paranoid obsession with 23...

I agree with many other reviewers that "Number 23" could have been much, much better. It's not the best movie around the block. Still, it's surprisingly tolerable. Also, the concept is interesting and contains several unexpected twists and turns. At first, I was annoyed by Jim Carrey, who is really a comic actor. However, he is quite good at portraying a paranoiac - at least a Hollywood stereotype paranoiac.

My main problem with "Number 23" are the loose ends and illogical situations. I didn't understand what on earth the dog named Ned has to do with the plot! Since the murder Sparrow is investigating took place 13 years earlier, it can't possibly be the same dog. Dogs don't live that long...

However, if you can swallow these kinds of inconveniences, you might nevertheless find "Number 23" interesting.

According to Wikipedia, there actually are conspiracy theorists who believe that the number 23 has esoteric significance. It does not. THE REAL SECRET NUMBER IS 666.

:-o

Kidding.