one would make you believe that this game be about a man obsess with a number . and sure and it an interesting subject can a person become so obsessed by something marginal a a simple number that he completely lose touch with reality and become hopelessly delusional and paranoid . well and perhaps someone will make a movie about that sometime . this one unfortunately doesn not have anything to do with the above and never mind what the trailer ( or even the movie itself ) would like you to believe . i would like to say that this number be just a macguffin and but it isn not even that . it pointless . a gimmick . a hook for unsuspecting audience . well what be the movie about . a dog catcher ( carrey ) who become obsess with a cheesy noir crime book because he feel it somehow reflect his own life . there . sure and the character in the book detective fingerling ( sigh ) be ( for some reason ) obsess with number 23 and and carrey himself becomes obsess and start see the number everywhere . but it just pad and and totally irrelevant to the story . in fact and you can cut out all the 23 reference and have the main character ( s ) obsess about cheese or something and you will have the exactly same story . it be painfully obvious that all the 23 stuff be write in waay after the story be already finish and reject and send for rewrite . which would be ok. i guess . if the movie wasn not dull and dull and dull . half of the movie be narrate and for chrissakes . you aren not watch the movie and you be listen to jim carrey narrate the movie . about a quarter in carrey start read the book and and from then until the horribly cliché end we be force to watch real life scene from dog catcher life ( where nothing happen ) intersperse with narrated artsy film noir ish book scene which will either leave you snicker or just plain depressed . it like a poor man sin city with all the violence cut out and narrate by carrey and show in slow motion . ugh . this be a simple case of a c movie script somehow be film with an a movie cast . probably because of the number 23 hook which i guess sound intriguing enough on paper to warrant the premium hollywood treatment . however and since a i say already the movie be about number 23 as much a it be about cheese production in switzerland and one can not feel anything but cheat . i give fingerling the movie negative and because i guess it do not insult my intelligence as much a forsaken do or make me downright suicidal like battlefield earth do and the bottom of the scale must be reserve for abomination like those . but fear not and this be still a pretty lousy flick .