Stick to comedies Jim

At one point in the movie "The Number 23," Virginia Madsen's character tells Jim Carrey's character, "You're insane." Perhaps Carrey can use this excuse as to why he chose to be in the movie. Stealing plot lines and camera angles from about 23 other movies, the film falls far from its potential.\nThe film, directed by Joel Schumacher, centers around Carrey's obsession with the number 23. As he reads a book titled with the same integer, he starts to notice how everything in his life revolves around the number. Forced cinematography leads to montage scenes where Carrey is writing addition problems all over the walls of his house and his body. \nAs he reads more of the book, Carrey begins to imagine himself as its leading character, Fingerling. A dual plot line ensues featuring Carrey as a detective caught in a mix of overdone lighting effects and cheesy dialogue. If Schumacher was trying to play off the popularity of the revamped film noir style executed by "Sin City," he fell dreadfully short. \nThe clichés continue as the movie jumps from one allusion to the next of successful horror movies of the past. I spotted references to "The Shining," "The Omen," "Cujo" and "Silence of the Lambs." And of course there's the obvious recollection of Carrey's Ace Ventura role. Not only does Carrey play the Fingerling detective, but in real life he is an animal control employee, riding around in a tan van just missing the furry additions of the Pet Detective.\nCarrey and Madsen are not to blame for the film's lacking. The problem is the script, a dud that not even two respected actors could resuscitate. I had hope for the movie, given the two stars and the once-great director, but once again Carrey is trapped in a serious movie sprinkled with one-liners and nowhere for his acting ability to shine. \nThe plot twists every 20 minutes, with the audience guessing at how it will unfold. Yet an hour into the movie, the answer is so obvious and cliché the audience actually laughed. Then we had to sit through 30 more minutes of drawn-out scenes with a final conclusion that seemed a far cry from the movie's initial objective.\nThe movie might have been saved had it adopted its own identity, but in a sea of successful thrillers and conspiracy plots, it simply does not make the cut.