23

The Number 23 was another foray away from his more widely accepted roles as a comedic film actor. Although it could be argued that the plot was slightly underdeveloped, the premise for a good story telling experience was present. The film dealt with a rehabilitated mental patient’s realization of his murderous past, followed by his slow decline back into madness. Walter Sparrow stumbles across a book that begins to consume his life. The book details a man’s obsession with the number 23 as the number begins to eerily connect to everything in his life. As Sparrow reads of the sorrows of the fictitious Fingerling, he begins to find similar connections in his life. He starts to derive the number through any and all permutations that are possible (and seemingly impossible), becoming completely obsessed with the frightening coincidence of the number’s associations. The more and more he reads, the more he is able to connect the characters in the book to those in his life. His slow decline begins to affect his family life, as his wife tries to convince him that he is projecting all this madness from his own paranoia, but his son becomes intrigued with his father’s case. As Sparrow begins to piece together what he thinks is the conspiracy against him created through the author of the book, the obvious is finally revealed that he is the author After this realization, he is confronted with the truth that he committed a murder and sent an innocent man to jail for his actions. Therefore, Sparrow does the noble thing, turning himself into the authorities finish the sentence he deserves.

Although the translucence of the plot may appear contrived to some viewers, I found this transparency interesting. As an audience, we quickly pick up on the visual metaphors and story motifs that tell us Sparrow is the author of the book. The use of the color red is a strong motif that ties Sparrow into the trouble that awaits him. The book itself, the walls in his home, and numerous instances of colored key lights used were a bright blood red. Also, when Sparrow first began to read the book, drops of red blood ran down onto the pages. The author listed on the cover of the book was “Topsey Kretts”; a rather obvious play on words: Top Secrets. This is a major sign to show that there is a deeper meaning hidden within the book’s pages and Sparrow’s instincts are not far off. Also, following his dog bite, Sparrow must undergo psychoanalysis, not immediately revealing any protruding manic tendencies, but displaying an uneasiness in the mood of the scene. This shows the audience that there is some credence to Sparrow being in the office and that the interviewer most likely had a knowledge of his past.

Even though one can quickly pick up on the plot direction of the story, the film does not ultimately fail because of it. The plot itself lacks a change in first act as we are just introduced to the string of coincidences that add up to the number 23. This makes the film drag a bit and lack believability, as real time takes too long to pass. However, I felt that the immediate understanding that the man’s own work would ultimately be his undoing was tragic to watch. With the facts out of the way and hidden to a majority of the characters in the movie, the audience can sit back and concentrate on watching Sparrow fall apart, already knowing that he is not a heroic crime fighter as he thinks.

This concept ties in well with the main theme of the movie, that being fate. In the film, fate was personified in the form of the dog, Ned. Sparrow narrates that if it was not for his run in with Ned, he would not have been late to pick up his wife, who in turn would never would have found the book. Also in this first encounter, Ned bites Sparrow, but manages to get away. Also, Ned watches over the grave of the girl who Sparrow murdered, telling us that something is not right with her death. Most telling, however, is when Sparrow actually catches Ned and shoots him with the tranquillizer. We find that Ned is not actually a stray, as he is watched over by the keeper of the graveyard. It is also now when we realize that Ned is always leading Sparrow back to the grave of the girl that he killed. This tells us that we cannot escape or capture fate, but are at the mercy of the predetermined plan, no matter the course you take to get there. This also brings with it the idea that you will be held responsible for your actions. Anything you do you are inexorably tied to for eternity. There is no escape from your past, even if you have consciously erased it from your memory. Your actions and the consequences of those actions will always catch you in the end.