The Number 23
Walter Sparrow becomes obsessed with a novel that he believes was written about him. As his obsession increases, more and more similarities seem to arise.
- Director: Joel Schumacher
- Genre: Drama | Mystery | Thriller
- Tagline: The truth will find you.
- Runtime: 101 minutes
Cast
Jim Carrey : Walter Sparrow / Fingerling
Virginia Madsen : Agatha Sparrow / Fabrizia
Logan Lerman : Robin Sparrow
Danny Huston : Isaac French / Dr. Miles Phoenix
Lynn Collins : Suicide Blonde / Mrs. Dobkins / Young Fingerling’s Mother
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Walter Sparrow (Jim Carrey) is an animal control officer married to cake shop owner, Agatha (Virginia Madsen); they have a son, Robin (Logan Lerman). The film opens with Walter narrating the events of his recent birthday. He begins by describing how, when it was almost five o’clock, he received a call to catch a dog. The dog had been cornered in the basement of a Chinese restaurant, and gives chase when Walter approaches. Walter eventually corners the dog, and learns from his name tag that his name is Ned. While Walter is distracted by light reflecting off Ned’s tag, the dog bites his arm and escapes again. Walter attempts to follow, but loses Ned at a cemetery. While searching the cemetery, Walter notices the gravestone of a girl named Laura Tollins.
Walter is late meeting his wife and while she is waiting, she enters a bookstore where she looks through a book titled The Number 23 written by Topsy Kretts. When Walter finally arrives, Agatha announces that she is going to buy the book for him as a birthday present.
Once home, Walter starts reading the book, noticing what he takes to be odd similarities between himself and the main character, a detective who refers to himself solely as “Fingerling”. The character explains that he got the name from an obscure children’s book, one that Walter realizes, much to his surprise, that he had also owned and enjoyed as a child. Also of note, the book details Fingerling finding his neighbor, Ms. Dobkins dead (though Ms. Dobkins appears to have committed suicide, Fingerling imagines her murder.) This too parallels events in Walter’s life, and he begins to believe that the book has some significance towards his own life. The book also details Fingerling’s meeting with the “Suicide Blonde” whose bizarre obsession with the number 23 drives her to murder her boyfriend and commit suicide. In the novel, her explanations and calculations of almost everything — including names, birth dates, and colours — all add up to 23 (or variations such as 2 and 3 or 32), driving her insane.
Walter takes the book back to the bookstore for further information and learns it was self-published and self-printed, and that, according to the store clerk, the author, Topsy Kretts, never released any other books.
Walter’s continued paranoia causes him to have dreams of killing Agatha, again in parallel with the book. After one such vivid dream he drives off in the middle of the night, leaving a note saying that he has to clear his head. Walter winds up in the King Edward Hotel and requests room 23 on a whim, which the hotel manager declines as he explains it has plumbing problems, and give him the key to room 27 instead. Walter spends the evening finishing the book only to discover that the book stops at chapter 22 with Fingerling standing on a balcony trying to decide whether or not to jump, after murdering his lover, Fabrizia.Read more
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