I The Behrend Beacon
Carrey gets serious in The Number 23
By Scott Muska
student life editor
There has always been, and most likely alwas
will he one central question posed when Jim
Carrey is cast in a role that is not in the genre of
comedy: Can he actually act serious in a I ilm?
From what I have seen in The ,Vumbet
certainly can.
Though Carrey has proven himself as more than
adequate in serious roles in previous years through
films like The Trion
Show and the very higl
acclaimed indie mo'
Eternal Sunshine of
Spotless Mind, ma
moviegoers still vit
Carrey as a perennial furry
man, and have a diffic
time reconciling the f
that he is indeed a v
diverse actor that col,
almost even he put into
same category as Johi
Depp or the extremely v
satile Ryan Reynolds.
In The Number
Carrey plays the avera,
American blue coil;
male,Walter Sparrow. He
a professional dogcatch,
that becomes extreme
enveloped in a novel u
his wife bought for him
his birthday. This book
based on a man th,
becomes obsessed with the
very mysterious traits and coincidences of the
number 23. Sparrow finds that his life parallels
greatly with the author of the novel and the film
takes off from there.
There are many twists and turns, and the ending
is akin to those of the popular Sanr movies in that
it is nearly impossible to figure out until it is final
ly explained to you at the conclusion of the movie.
The film employs a masterful use of suspense. and
is extremely unpredictable.
Carrey's performance is aided by a great script
written by Hollywood newcomer Fernley Phillips,
and it's extremely difficult not to take the ordinar
ily hilarious actor very, very seriously. At the
commencement of the movie, Carrey is sarcastic
and catches a few laughs from the audience and
this use of his sense of humor helps the audience
to relate to Carrey as he usually is. and to become
more used to his character. It also helps the audi
ence to become even more involved and sympa
thetic of Carrey's character when he begins to fall
The Billboard Top 10 Hot Ringtones
Chris Brown featuring Jay Biz- "Poppin'"
"Crazy Bitch"
"Rockstar"
Buckcherry-
Nickelback-
Rascal Flatts-
50 Cent featuring Olivia- "Candy Shop"
"Because I Got High
Koji Kondo- "Super Mario Brothers Theme"
The Black Eyed Peas- "My Humps"
Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Usher &
Afroman-
7.
8.
Ludacris- "Lovers And Friends"
10. Beyonce- "Irreplaceable"
*Statistics courtesy of Billboard.com
"What Hurts The Most"
into Ills downward spiral ,and becomes. for lack of
a better word. insane.
This movie was very original and both the plot
and production were very good. It actually
reminded me of movies that have been put into the
film noir category because it gave off a very grim
mood throughout the movie and seemed as though
it was always extremely dark. This fit very well
ith the movie. though, and it was tastefully done
as opposed to overdone, which is a problem with
many movies that are made today. This utilization
f darkness as an
movie solely based on a number, hut soon into the
movie I was completely hooked, - said Smith.
"Throughout the entire movie I was trying to
guess how it would end, but when the movie final
ly did come to an end it was one of the most
shocking endings that I have seen in a long time."
The Number 23 is easily the best movie that I
have seen so far this year and this movie should
serve as the final hush to the probing questions
about Carrev's adequacy as a diverse and serious
actor. It is a movie that is definitely worth seeing
and I regretably disagree with Peter Travers, the
movie guru who critiques films for Rolling Stone.
Travers awarded only one star, and hashed the
movie pretty heavily, putting it in his "Bomb
Squad" category of terrible movies released in
2007. 1 would have given this movie three stars,
and justifiably so.
d in setting the
aod of a film
Wild he expected
humacher, the
ector of Batman
and
nnan & Robin
Overall.
nsider this movie
he very good and
am not the only
le who has
thraced both
rrey's work and
overall quality
the
;sistant news edi
- of the Beacon,
nny Smith, also
ioyed it. went
,o the theater
- id of skeptical as
whether or not
they could make a
"Top Five Power Ballads"
By Scott Muska
5. Paul McCartney
"Maybe I'm Amazed"
4. Guns n' Roses
" November Rain"
3. Bon Jovi- "Bed of
Roses"
2. Journey- "Open Arms"
1. Poison- "Every Rose
Has It's Thorn"
Box office breakdown
Feb. 16-19, 2007
1. Ghost Rider $20,067,443
2. The Number 23 $14,602,86
3. Bridge to Terabithia $14,357,72.
4. Reno 911!: Miami $10,273,47
5. Norbit $9,825,021
6. Music and Lyrics $7,652,433
7. Breach $5,994,951
8. Tyler Perry's Daddy's Little Girls $4,815,33
9. The Astronaut Farmer $4,454,31'
10. Amazing Grace $4,054,54
*Statistics courtesy of BoxofficeMojo.corn
Friday, March 2, 200