Best Jim Carrey ever! (The Number 23 (DVD))

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	The Number 23 (DVD)
Date:	17/09/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: brilliant acting and plot

Disadvantages: none

I like Jim Carrey. I used to enjoy all of his comedies, but I didn't think he was limited to being a comic actor. For me, there was something about him that suggested he was a great actor who was just choosing to do comedy. With 'The Number 23', I was smugly proven right.

This is a stunning psychological thriller. Basically, it stars Carrey as a man who reads a book, and the book starts drawing dramatic parallels with his own life. The book convinces him of the importance of the number 23, and he starts seeing it everywhere. He goes a bit mad, then a bit more mad, and things start to unfold.

The film is really well thought through. It's one of those psychological films where you're not sure whether you can believe everything going on or not. In many ways it's like Henry James' 'The Turn of the Screw', where you aren't sure whether to believe the seemingly mad person or the people saying she's mad. If it was a novel, we'd call it the unreliable narrator, but really it's the unreliable character - or is it? Because we're not sure, it takes us on a journey similar to that of the protagonist, not knowing where truth lies. The eventual ending is very clever and rewarding - I love it!

Carrey does a brilliant job in a role you would think wouldn't fit him at all. He uses the intensity usually found comically in his work, and pushes it towards darkness. I really think it's his career best moment. However, the rest of the cast, largely unknown, also do a great job.

All in all this is a brilliant thriller that contains so many twists and turns it's totally gripping the whole way through. You may feel you won't be able to take Carrey seriously, but I think it will change your mind.

Summary: do it