DVD review (regions 1 and 2)
Directed by Joel Schumacher
Starring Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen
Release date Out now

Dogcatcher Walter Sparrow (Carrey) becomes increasingly paranoid when he starts to see parallels between his life and a book called The Number 23…

"I'd like two words on my tombstone," growls Carrey in the opening narration for this film: "What if I'd said 'screw the cake'?" Leaving aside that that's actually seven words, and would make for a very odd tombstone, you can't help but agree with the sentiment. There is an excellent cosmic conspiracy theory film to be made about synchronicity and, in particular, the number 23, but this isn't it.

It could have been, with a little more clarity as to whether its subject matter is the genuinely mystical or the purely coincidental. But instead it flits between the two, not with teasing ambiguity, but confusion, both on the part of the writers and the director.

Why is Sparrow's wife (Madsen) drawn to the book in the first place, and what is the significance of Ned the mercurial dog? These questions are never addressed as the film races towards its pedestrian, procedural ending, stripping away any mystery in favour of the mundane.

As the focus shifts to the hunt for a killer, the significance of the number 23 becomes peripheral, until it is forgotten altogether. The eventual explanation for Sparrow's obsession is nothing to do with numbers, and manages to be both preposterous and dull all at once. The DVD includes an additional cut of the film, deleted scenes and an alternative ending, but they're all just making up the numbers. Paul Collins

VERDICT: 4/10
The film ends with a song called The Banality of Evil, which says all you need to know about The Number 23, really.