It is always unfortunate when a good idea is transformed into a bad movie, and that is what happened to The Number 23. Watching the preview, I actually got goosebumps. Concepts such as obsession, coincidence, delusion, and misguided homicidal rage are very attractive in a horror flick. Also attractive to me is seeing a comedy actor like Jim Carrey working outside of his usual realm and tackling another genre. Still, these components were not enough to bring The Number 23 above the level of a USA original movie. More important than casting and concepts are plot, dialogue, and cinemetography; none of these aspects of the film were handled with much finesse. The pacing was slow and frustrating, the direction trite and uninventive. Schumacher's attempts to express a mood through lighting and color produced the results that any film student with a big budget could achieve. The plot was insultingly predictable, and the acting mediocre. It's too bad. The poster looked so cool...
http://www.spout.com/films/270543/default.aspx