The Number 23 (2007)

2+3=5 :: Chaos.

Starring: Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen.

Directed by: Joel Schumacher.

Written by: Fernley Phillips.

The explanation of the events in this movie is pretty much summarized in the title of this review. CHAOS. I got that synonym for No. 5 from the DVD extras of this movie. It does actually suit to the events, but do not confuse with the feeling that so chaotic that it is difficult to comprehend.

The number 23 is the title of the book William (Jim Carrey) gets as a present on his birthday by Agatha (Virginia Madsen), his wife. As he reads through it, he first gets fascinated by the creativity by the author and then starts to think that the events in the books are very similar to his life. So he starts obsessing and is on a mental journey to figure out what happens next.

BRAVO Fernley Phillips for this unique and stylized thriller. This is his first ever screenplay. All the characters and, if I may say, their surreal counterparts are simply fascinating. The blend of confusion and curiosity is well written. It makes you think all the time. Now this project makes me curious about his next project with Bryan Singer, about two teenagers' journey from chat introduction to bloody violence.

Being a drama/thriller-genre lover I never thought I would ever write about action director Joel Schumacher. But I am here for the reason being he perhaps was the best person to picturize this chaos. Looks on the faces of Jim Carrey and Virginia Madsen are choreographed to the almost perfection of their character requirements. As if this is what screenwriter had in his mind. The lights from the fires, the wet dirty roads, suicide blonde sequence, dark nights and background score, these are the things to remember and the director has put it in a box that makes this a visual treat, just like Kate Beckinsale's stylised Vampire-Vulcan-high-tech thriller Underworld (2003).

It would be ignorance to neglect Jim Carrey from this review. The rubber faced comic gives yet another great performance after Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He makes the obsessed William and diabolic Fingerling a must watch. His eyes shed tears and blood. This is what makes him sit on a curve and swing back and forth between the good and evil. Same goes with Virginia Madsen as Agatha and Febrizia. Wow!.

This is an edge-of-the-seat thriller. Do not miss it.

My Rating: 8/10.