The Number 23 (2007;Schumacher) (1st time;theater) **

A man (Carrey) becomes obsessed with a book that appears to be based on his life but ends with a murder that has yet to happen in real life.

I saw this with my girlfriend while I was in California. I went in knowing it was directed by Joel Schumacher (director of the horrendously horrible Batman & Robin), but my girlfriend has a much simpler taste in films. I went in fully expected to be bored to tears.

I was pleasantly surprised, actually. Much better than Batman & Robin ever dreamed of being. It was a drastically different role for Jim Carrey, and I think he did a good job.

The biggest problem with the film, however, is Schumacher. The film is shot extremely well...it's just Schumacher is horrible at story-telling. The big twist comes at about 3/4 of the way through the film. It's a decent twist, but somewhat predictable due to Schumacher's "story-telling."

The film could have been great in the hands of someone like...say...David Fincher. But we're left with a film that had a load of potential, but somewhat falls flat because of Schumacher.

It's still decent, though.