The Number 23 (2007)

Apart from "Ace Ventura" and his role as the Riddler in "Batman Forever", I've always found Jim Carrey to be a bit hit or miss. I certainly never rated him as much of a serious actor and so got a nice surprise with "The Number 23". He was great! In fact, it was all a very welcome change from the usual nastiness I watch and I wasn't bored for a moment.

I've never been good at working out "whodunnits" and I was so sure about who I thought had committed the murder that I got quite a surprise at the end. A lot of people have said that the ending was predictable. Well, I didn't find it so. I don't think you could possibly work out the ending in this case before it happens.

"The Number 23" wasn't without its flaws though. There were a few places where scenes didn't entirely work. Perhaps the flashbacks to Jim Carrey pretending that he was younger were the worst of these since he looks his age.

I also found some of the editing to be a bit odd in spite of some really good camera effects. It had the feel of "Sin City" about it at times. I can't quite put my finger on it but it just didn't gel with the "Donnie Darko" quality of the rest.

The acting was good throughout though. I didn't recognise Virginia Madsen at all and was amazed to see Rhona Mitra. I'd forgotten all about her after she lost out on the "Tomb Raider" role.

The script certainly had me thinking too. I didn't know all that stuff about "23" before and so I may have to look into it some more now.

Anyway, I recommend this film to anyone who wants to see a better version of a similar story to "The Dark Half" or "Secret Window".