Not offensive, but very, very dull.

Worst movie I have ever watched. People who say the critics are wrong and the movie is not that bad: don't believe them. Yes, Jim Carrey gives a good performance here, but everything else is just all over the place. The movie tries so hard to make you belive the numerology and the obssession with the number 23 is brilliant, but in the end is just so random and non-sense. The movie is confusing and bad directed with everything happening so fast and a lot of exposition. If you ponder a little you can fully understand the movie, but that does not make it good. Afterwards, it just continues to be a messy premise that requires a lot of reality suspension to be believed.

It´s upsetting how insanely inept and preposterous this disaster is. Joel Schumacher did have his good days but he often struggled with tone and what the man who directed A time to Kill was going for here,I can not tell. It reads like a overstuffed,unecessarily convoluted mystery with very occult overtones signifying nothing,Jim Carrey plays his lead as a tortured soul stuck in a generic drama and mr.S directs the whole thing as a glossy,wannabe noirish potboiler that looks cheap with dashes of pg-13 creepiness and it´s all just very "what the hell am I watching"? Great cast though,never any shade on Virginia Madsen.

2007's 'Number 23' was one of the first examples that Jim Carrey could play a serious(ish) role. SYNOPSIS: 'Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him, as more and more similarities between himself and his literary alter ego seem to arise.' It's not the worst film you'll see, especially when looking at this sort of sub genre, but it has so many flaws it ruins something which could've been half decent. With its glaring plot holes, over-reliance on coincidence and unexplained central conceit, it is hard to fathom why this project drew the likes of Jim Carry and Virginia Madsen. And neither of them can carry this film on their own. Carrey does play crazy really well though. 5/10

There’s an undeniable cheapness to it, no matter how hard Carey tries—and he really does try.

I am a BIG horror and thriller fan and I really liked this movie! Thought Jim Carey was amazing as always. Score on RM gives me doubt in relying on their opinions about any movie. I recommend judge for yourself👍🏻

7% is so wrong !! Remember watching this when it first came out and being a big horror and Jim Carey fan I was so excited. On the horror side you will be slightly disappointed, but as a thriller it's pretty solid overall. I loved the dream sequences and Jim Carey puts in a decent performance, and the ending caught me off guard !! 7% from the critics is ridiculous. Glad to see the audience score is pretty fair

In the nutshell, "respectfully" and HONESTLY, it's DARK, CONFUSING, DISGUSTING, and ALL OVER THE PLACE.

An amazing contrast of what he normally plays. I want more comedy actors to do roles like this. The tattoos were even his recommendation. I really hope He takes some more serious roles.

Once again Joel Schumacher caught me of guard with such a brilliant and well written underrated hidden gem,which is very hard to find!

Horrible. It was very reminiscent of that episode in Community where Chang is insane and convinced he is a detective solving some sort of case that he made up in his head and makes no sense. The cheesy inner monologue and the fact that his wife just went along with his insanity? It's a pity cos the concept actually had potential but it just highlights how stupid the enigma really is. Which may have been the point but that feels more comedic than psychologically thrilling. There is possibility for a great film out there documenting a crazy mans decent into a conspiracy theory but this is not it. Almost turned it off halfway through but only finished it for the laughs.

not brilliant but I don't think its nearly as bad as the critics make out

Love Jim Carrey in most films but my only memory of this movie is that its the only movie I've ever walked out of a theater watching. I literally even finish 99% of bad movies I'm watching at home and couldn't finish this one.

For impatient viewers it can be to long and annoying, but it does have its unique and hypnotic mysterious vibe with obsession and madness in the background

This movie is amazing. Keeps you on the edge of the seat. Jim Carey delivers an astounding, at times bone-chilling performance. This is definitely a movie for grown-ups with some disturbing images and concepts, but overall it's absolutely worth the watch. A fair warning: you may find yourself noticing (and looking for) a certain number afterwards...

Unlike many here...I love it's stylistic aura. It thought it was extremely entertaining.

Although an unpopular opinion, I think Carrey did a great job for being such a serious role. If you pay attention to what you are watching, it is not confusing. It is definitely better than most movies that come out today.

Honestly this movie gets a bad rap. As far as psychological thrillers go this is certainly one I'd recommend. The ending was very unexpected but watching it a second time through makes total sense. Definitely not the greatest movie I've ever seen but for sure one of Jim Carrey's better movies.

Jim Carrey should have done more horror. This movie was brilliant. Ignore the critics.

## Spoilers-free review I enjoyed this movie back then, and I enjoyed it now. I don't get the negative reviews surrounding the movie and, to be honest, I think most of those reviewers are missing the point. This movie stars Jim Carrey as Walter Sparrow, a dog-catcher and an amiable guy that ends up with a book. The book's story not only resembles a lot of Walter's younger years, but also explains to him about a new threat: the Number 23. Walter starts descending into madness once he sees that his life, like in the book, is also dictated by the Number. Jim Carrey is not perfect, but I like his role here. He does strike me as someone with inner demons, both in the movie and in real life. (And we know the latter can be true.) The plot has its holes. The 23 enigma stuff is meant to be delusional, but sounds silly sometimes. However, I think that is the idea. To me, the main problems are the characters Agatha and Isaac are not fully explored. I felt like we are missing information on both of them. I like this movie's pacing, and I like how everything connects. Of course, you might feel like a smarta** by getting the ending altogether, but I thought it was well-done. Other than the characters I mentioned previously, this movie is good. A good crime mystery for you. ## Review with spoilers This is a movie I like quite a lot, but I know it got a pretty negative review. I watched it back in the day and I enjoyed it. Moving forward 15 years, I rewatched it to see if I would get a different impression. Spoilers: I still like this movie. I did some digging. I found out that the main reasons most people don't like this movie are: - Jim Carrey - Too much convenience - The enigma itself And I guess my best shot at a review is to start with this list. I hope you enjoy the ride. The Number 23 tells the story of Walter Sparrow, a dog-catcher, that, on his 32nd birthday, by chance, ends up being presented a book called The Number 23 by Topsy Kretts. The novel tells the story of Detective Fingerling and his downfall to the number 23 curse. Walter gets obsessed with the novel's story because much of it remembers his childhood. Jim Carrey plays Walter. Walter is supposed to be a loving character. He is charismatic, he is a good dad, a good husband; he does not like his job a bit, but he does it with passion. I think Jim fits the role because he seems like a regular dude that has some inner demons ready to pop — and considering his ongoing problems that went public, we know he has inner demons. Jim does have his acting problems, of which most of them come from the fact that his facial expressions are always kind of hilarious, but I like him to some extent in this movie. B-. I read people complaining that everything that happens is too convenient. I really didn't feel that way. People apparently forgot what this movie is about; and I will tell you: the plot here is not only about Walter's past, but if the number 23 curse is real. I guess people stopped reading books, that is why the plot seemed so "convenient" to them. One article I read even criticized the fact that Walter only got the book because he didn't hump Sybil. Well, duh!? That is the whole point. Was it a coincidence or was it the Number playing its part? Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to defend a masterpiece here. It is a review and, in the end, reviews are opinions, but I really think people are missing the point with this movie. I suggested this movie to some close friends and all of them found the moving to be enjoyable. So, either we are missing the point or them. Maybe I should suggest this movie to 23 people and see the results... Nah! The enigma itself is interesting folklore. It is a real enigma. I find it to be a smarter conception than the flat Earth BS. But one thing needs to be clarified: this movie is not about the enigma. Walter gets a book in which the story resembles a little too much his childhood. In the book, the main character, detective Fingerling(, funny name, yeah, we will get to that), describes his memorable detective work and the love he had with a woman named Fabrizia. In one investigation, Fingerling is confronted with the Number curse. At first, he is skeptical, but then he starts to see that the Number is indeed everywhere. In real life, Walter, now aware of the 23 conundrum, starts seeing 23 everywhere too. This causes his descent into madness. To make things worse, he finds out that a murder in a book is very similar to a crime where the body was not found. He thinks the book is the delusional confession of the killer. His only shot at understanding what the actual fuck is to find the book's author: Topsy Kretts. This is the best time to talk about Fingerling and Topsy Kretts. Yeah, dumb names, I know. However, Fingerling is acceptable once you understand what is happening; Topsy Kretts is very stupid. The author of the book should have had any other real name or an anagram or something. But hey, we hate Topsy Kretts, but Tom Marvolo Riddle ("I am Lord Voldermort", lmao,) is fine... `¯\_(ツ)_/¯` One character I truly hate is Isaac. Events, in the end, led me to believe that he adds nothing to the story. Like, nothing at all. He is just there for the writers to exploit. Either his role in the plot got severely reduced or he is really just there for exploitation. Agatha also seems a bit out of place sometimes. We get hints that she also did not have a great past, but that is never explored in the movie. I think the ending is pretty cool. The suicide attempt with the speeding bus was stupid, but the ending itself is good. So, Walter is the author of the book. By this point, it might be a bit obvious. The book was, indeed, his delusional confession up to Chapter 23 where he really confesses to having killed someone. At that time, when he finished writing the book, an insane Walter tried to commit suicide by jumping out of a window from the 23rd floor. He does not die. He gets sent to a mental health center to heal from his injuries; his mind blocked everything else. The Number gets a new victim: one doctor that studies his book and publishes it under the stupid Topsy Kretts name. Years later, Walter is released from the health facility, bumps into Agatha and their story begins. I think this "bumps into Agatha" thing could have been different. She met Walter while he was leaving a mental health facility and, years later, when he starts going insane, she never questions his sanity. I guess it would have played out better if they met by chance anywhere else. After learning all this, Walter tries suicide again by standing still in front of a speeding bus. He listens to his son screaming for him and he backs away, saving himself. The movie ends with Walter in jail awaiting his sentence after turning himself in for the murder he commit back then, which ultimately releases the other guy who was framed by accident. He says that, although this is not a happy ending, it is the right ending, especially to his son as a lesson of what is to be just. The final segment is Walter staring at a clock that marks 23, while mocking that numbers are just numbers, right? This ending leaves us to our own conclusions if Walter is just delusional about the 23 curse or if it is really a thing. To me, it could be both. In the end, the Number was present all the time, but it wasn't really doing anything other than just being an annoyance. Or was it? Well, did you try connecting every 23rd word of this review? I will tell you what it spells: "in Spoilers movie this 32th of remembers a because we facial everything will people Walter was a this or is clarified In love but seeing is His to Kretts we in the seems explored itself indeed the He victim health while would in with guy his mocking curse time 23rd."