The collected works of ScottyB

Last night we went and saw The Number 23, Jim Carrey’s latest flick.

I had read a bit of background on this film before seeing it, including mixed reviews at the usual review sites, but I have to say - as usual - the majority of the reviews were wrong.

This has to be one of the most underrated films of all time.

While many have commented that the Drama/Mystery/Thriller genres aren’t Carrey’s playground, after seeing 23 I’d have to completely disagree. He slipped into the role of Walter Sparrow perfectly. He is so versatile you’d hardly be able to connect him with the funny man of Ace Ventura or Mask.

Its a dark film, but the sequences in between are done with such style and flair, it almost feels ‘comic book’ in its presentation sometimes, like a take from Sin City - particularly when Suicide Blonde and Fabrizia are on the scene.

The dialogue is smooth, the acting is slick. The sets are fantastically stylish. And right there is where I move on to the most incredible bit of the film. The references to the number 23.

Everything I saw referenced back to 23.

The numberplate on his car, 906 8HT (9+6+0+8), the number of Walter Sparrow’s footlocker; 87305 (8+7+3+0+5), standing on the street between numbers 11 and 12. The address of the bookstore (599), the number across from Suicide Blondes apartment (959), Walter’s room at the asylum (318 or 31-8), the PO Box that they mail the boxes to (977).

You become almost as obsessed with finding the number everywhere as Carrey does. Even after leaving the cinema I was finding 23 everywhere. $22.99 on a price tag out front of Woolworths, the clock in the car read 12:23. The volume in the car set to 23.

It is an awesome subconscious element of the film that makes this one just a little more special.

Some great quotes written into this film also.

“It’s so absurd, even the colour of his tie betrays him.”

“There’s no such thing as destiny. There are only different choices. Some choices are easy, some aren’t. Those are the really important ones, the ones that define us as people.”

It’s not often we see films like this any more and that really is quite a shame.

I want to give it a 9 out of 10, but somehow 6 (2 x 3) seems to suit it better.

Change is a good thing.

I’ve never questioned change, though I have to admit sometimes to not embracing it immediately. Change can be a great many things. Some of which we do without noticing, some require more effort to change, while others, the changes that are made for us are the least favourable and often the most despised and feared.

Much of my life is made up of a bunch of meaningless, but welcome changes.

Its the little things we change on a daily basis. In fact, this entire entry was spawned when I found myself changing my computer wallpaper again. Something I do very regularly. Sometimes on a week-to-week basis. Sometimes even more often.

I change signatures I use on forums, avatars, favourite quotes, colour options, layout settings. Its not that I’m never happy with my decisions, far from it - rather I prefer that fresh feeling you get when you change something small. Like it has a bearing on your life because it refreshes the daily monotonies of life. Maybe its because I have numerous interests and hobbies. One morning I feel in the Comic Book mood. So I change accordingly. Other mornings, I hop in the MINI and am suddenly keen for a good drive. So my computer wallpaper changes accordingly. I may see a gorgeous exotic supercar drive by. Cue another change. Something I read might spark my interest in the World. A photo on National Geographic. My mood defines my change.

Others require more effort. Changing my job for instance. I know I can’t be here forever. I can’t stay in a small company with nowhere to move in an industry that looks for people with the ‘team player’ status attached to their resume. I’m too loyal to the company that gave me my first big break. In a way, rightly so. But I can’t stay in the same position on the same wage and watch idly by as the dream of owning a home gets harder and harder to realise. But I can’t make the move into the unknown just yet. And I don’t know why.

Its a tough cycle.