THE NUMBER 23 (2007) 1 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Logan Lerman, Danny Huston, Lynn Collins, Mark Pellegrino, David Stifel and Ed Lauter. Music by Harry Gregson-Williams. Written by Fernley Phillips. Directed by Joel Schumacher. Rated R. Running time: Approx. 95 mins.

Jim Carrey goes all creepy in The Number 23, an unsatisfying psychological thriller about obsession and paranoia that fails to add up to much of anything.

It’s painful to watch a movie that tries so hard to aspire to a level it cannot reach for lack of a coherent and logical script and a hack director.

The screenplay by Fernley Phillips jerks you around in so many directions that when all the pieces finally fit together you either have figured out the puzzle or don’t care what the solution is.

Credit for that can go to director Joel Schumacher, who is infamous for wrecking the Batman franchise and for his mishandling of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera a couple of years ago.

In fact, Schumacher should do everyone a favor and never set foot behind a camera again. Everything he handles seems to turn to crap.

In The Number 23, Carrey works as an animal control officer — “a dog catcher,” has he says — named Walter Sparrow (no relation to Capt. Jack).

The problem with the story is Carrey’s Sparrow seems off kilter from the outset, so it is no surprise when, after receiving a book from his wife entitled The Number 23, he begins to go off the deep end, seeing number 23s everywhere.

Walter becomes obsessed with finding the book’s author because much in the story sounds so familiar, as if the author knew Walter’s life intimately.

Anyone with a modicum of cinematic sense can see where this will lead, but Schumacher draws it out endlessly, so a movie that runs about 95 minutes feels as long as one of the extended versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Ultimately, the movie is a letdown; the finale unsatisfying.

Carrey gets points for trying to stretch, to step out from his comic persona, but he is continually undone by the script and Schumacher’s direction, which basically keeps him in a perpetual state of upheaval throughout.

And the cinematography, which tries to create an oppressive atmosphere, only produces a murky and dull palate that fails to envelop the audience.

The quirky score by Harry Gregson-Williams carries more suspense than the movie.

The Number 23 lacks cohesion. Schumacher flails around like a drowning man, and takes his picture under with him.

Bob Bloom is the film critic and DVD reviewer at the Journal & Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bbloom@journalandcourier.com or at bloomjc@yahoo.com. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal & Courier Web site: www.jconline.com
Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com.