Does writer Fernley Phillips underestimate his audience with this thriller?
Rumors on the internet have circulated lately that the writer of the Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen thriller “The Number 23” is not “Fernley Phillips” at all. He supposedly has been billed as both Sam Lake and Alan Wake. Rumors.
What is a fact is that this picture’s author leaves so many clues for the audience to catch, but our tortured protagonist, Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey), misses. Many audiences may chalk this up to predictable story plot. The plot of “The Number 23” is far from predictable, until Walter’s wife (Virginia Madsen) gifts him a book. With a blood red cover. Of course, the couple befriends a kind and caring doctor, Miles Phoenix (Danny Huston) who clearly knows more than he’s telling poor Walter Sparrow.
Once the plot is set into action, both Walter’s wife and Dr. Phoenix, even the character names are telling of this tale, cement a secret huddle and constantly scurry about “taking care of” Walter. The main character continually asks why his wife has painted their living room wall blood red. She reads Walter’s book and dismisses it as if it were the Sunday comics. Yet, by some magical intervention she appears to instinctively know, it’s just the perfect birthday gift for him.
Walter works as a dog catcher. A dog named “Ned,” N = 14, E = 5, D = 4 = 23, is behind a Chinese restaurant where he bites Walter and runs off. Never to be seen again, naturally. Instead, the dog appears virtually out of nowhere, torturing Walter and family on a fairly random basis.
The Sparrows have a young son, Robin Sparrow (Logan Lerman), who is all but forgot by director Joel Schumacher until the father/son bond provides a convenient distraction. Upon hearing his young son’s plaintiff cries, Walter snaps out of his 23 obsession.
Both writer and director strive for distraction; and, they achieve it. Walter’s “possession” by the number is visually unique. They pull us back in time always attempting to stay current with the present action. Carrey and Madsen play duel roles for this story, Carrey as “Fingerling” and Madsen as “Fabrizia,” in Walter’s delusional world. Danny Huston appears as the evil “Issac French.” The most enigmatic character is the “Suicide Blonde” (Lynn Collins) who plays no less than three roles. “The Number 23” is fast, gory and ultimately, one would think, surprising.
We travel with Walter through his fragmented world. But, instead of taking the whole ride with this character, silly coincidences occur far too often, fortuitous appearances of graves and his family's cover-up of his past, gives the audience more information than the character we are identifying with. Poor story telling begins with these types of mistakes.
At the end of act three, in the form of a goofy denouement, Walter makes all things right with the world and mysteriously forgets all about his number. And, yes, Ned, the Hero (23) Dog is there.
Source: International Movie Data Base
