The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Tuesday, March 6, 2007 - 5
He's in psychoville, and Finkle's the mayor.
Overwrought psycho-
' thriller doesn't add up
Clipse takes over The Blind Pig on Sunday night.
By ELIE ZWIEBEL
Daily Arts Writer
It's a common thought process
when reading a new novel to put
ourselves or peo-
ple we know into
the role ofvarious
characters. Only
in "The Number Th
23," when Wal- Number 23
ter Sparrow (Jim
Carrey, "Eternal At Quality16
Sunshine of the and Showcase
Spotless Mind") New Line
receives a book
about a detec-
tive's slip into
paranoia and dementia, he begins
to think he is the book's protago-
nist. There is an uncomfortable
amount of parallels between
himself and the main character,
and they all have to do with the
number 23.
It appears in relation to every-
thing and everyone, from Spar-
row's address to the date he met
his wife to the parking space he
just so happens to see outside of a
window. Characters in Sparrow's
mental version of the book even
appear as the people in his normal
life, most notably his blonde wife
(Virginia Madsen, "Sideways")
turned sultry, nymphomaniacal
femme fatale.
After a while, though, these
coincidences go from being
potentially creepy to forced and
pointless.
With "Number 23," Director
Joel Schumacher ("The Phan-
tom of the opera") has bitten off
more than he can chew, spending
so much time dabbling in various
themes of paranoia thathe forgets
to make a provocative thriller-
mystery. Set in motion by a series
of coincidences revolving around
a stray dog, you might think the
film's about fate. Not necessarily.
After Sparrow's too-vivid read-
ing of a novel, you might think it's
about insanity. Not necessarily.
Considering the novel's detective
plot, you might think it's about
murder. Again - not necessarily.
"23" ends up being some com-
bination of all three when a
thorough examination of just
one would have sufficed. Schum-
acher's not up to the challenge
and the film ends up clouded, its
themes reduced to superficial
plot twists.
Carrey, though initially step-
ping into his familiar role as
a nice guy with mental issues,
eventually brings something new
to his schtick. Sparrow could be
easily mistaken for "Eternal Sun-
shine's" Joel Barish - a perfectly
nice guy, meek and romantically
melancholy. But once Carrey
appears as the novel's suave and
A no-go, but it's
about time for
Carrey's dark side.
sado-masochistic Fingerling, he
allows a glimpse into his darker,
pseudo-Goth side. And it's actu-
ally believable. When Sparrow
finally goes completely crazy,
Carrey channels his former comic
alter-egos into a serious depic-
tion of the mentally deranged and
emotionally unbalanced.
But even Carrey's satisfactory
acting isn't enough to make this
psychological mystery interest-
ing. Sparrow eventually plunges
into both the novel's mystery and
his own descent into number-
driven lunacy.
As the mystery wraps up and
Sparrow's paranoia winds down,
the film's conclusion is so obvious
that its poster (a full-face shot of
an ominous Carrey) could give
away the punch. The bigger mys-
tery is figuring out what the hell
was the point of all the innumer-
able red herrings in an already
thematically inundated movie.
Hell hath ... some fury
HIP-HOP ACT COOLED OFF BY OVERLONG OPENING ACTS
By ANDREW KAHN
Daily Arts Writer
A sold-out crowd's worth of University stu-
dents queued in the cold outside The Blind Pig
Sunday night in hopes of buy-
ing the remaining tickets to
Virginia rap duo Clipse. Even Clips
those who purchased tickets At the
in advance gathered around Blind P.g
to secure a spot close to the B
stage. Sunday
Once they all got inside, they
waited. And they waited. And
they waited. But the pair didn't take the stage
until after midnight.
To be fair, opening acts are always in a diffi-
cult position. Fans pay to see the headliner and
often don't want to stand through the sets of art-
ists of whom they've never heard. This is espe-
cially true at a smaller venue like The Blind Pig,
where, in the case of a sold-out show like this,
fans are packed tightly with little room to move.
Yet there was an expansive array of opening
acts that attempted to satiate the crowd, includ-
ing a set from One.Be.Lo, but by the time the
Global Gangstas hit the stage, fans were restless.
They began to boo the Gangstas and demanded
to see Malice and Pusha T, chanting, "We Want
Clipse?" One of the Chicago-based group's mem-
bers shouted, "We still got love for Michigan"
as he left the stage, though some of his partners
were visibly angered by the crowd's reaction.
The tedious lengths of the openingsetscaused
the crowd to grow restless, but once Clipse took
the stage and started rapping "Mama I'm So
Sorry" from Hell Hath No Fury, memories of
standing in the cold softened.
Clipse have a respectable catalogue, and they
performed several of their hits Sunday night,
including "Hot Damn," "Grindin' " and "What
Happened to that Boy." These Neptunes-pro-
duced bangers shined in the live setting.
The crowd sang along to these well-known
tracks, their fitted baseball caps bobbing as
they nodded to the beat. Fans got a chance to
see Malice and Pusha T, brothers who sound a
lot alike, perform the verses they've heard doz-
ens of times. It's often difficult to distinguish
between the two on record, so seeing them live
gave listeners a chance to match the lyrics with
the rapper.
And Clipse was certainly on point with lyrical
delivery. The duo sounded just as smooth live as
they do on their albums, never skipping a word
even as they raised their voices to match the
intensity of the beats.
Clipse kept the crowd energized with tracks
from Hell Hath like "Ride Around Shining" and
"Chinese New Year," and as they seemed ready
to leave the stage, the crowd chanted "Mr. Me
Too," in hopes of hearing the lead single from
the album. Clipse complied, performing the song
right before exiting the stage.
The entire set was under an hour, and while
they left out some hits ("When's the Last Time"),
the performance was filled with energy. Clipse is
not a huge seller, but they have delivered some of
the best albums of the last five years. Drug deal-
ing is their topic of choice, but they present their
rhymes in an upfront, unique way, which has
helped them maintain a devout fan base.
Clipse have a strong live show that does jus-
tice to their recorded output. If only they had
been on stage as long as their opening acts.
Over-the-hill porkers hit the road hard
By SHERI JANKELOVITZ
DailyArts Writer
"Wild Hogs" is about throwing
off the shackles of everyday life for
the freedom of the open road. At
least that's what
it's supposed to
be. In reality, this **
film is a predict-
able, generic com- Wild Hogs
edy whose only
redeeming qual- At Quality16
ity is its big-name and Showcase
stars. Touchstone
The film cen-
ters on four
middle-aged
men who would never be friends
in real life: Dudley (William H.
Macy, "Fargo"), Doug (Tim Allen,
"The Santa Clause"), Woody (John
Travolta, "Face/Off") and Bobby
(Martin Lawrence, "Big Momma's
House") who have all settled into
comfortable but unfulfilling lives.
Soon the unbearable torture of
their suburban existence becomes
too much, and Woody proposes a
road trip to the others as a chance to
reclaim their lost glory. In an effort
to appear like authentic bikers, they
name themselves the "Wild Hogs"
- and even have Doug's wife sew
emblems onto their leather jackets.
Talk about cool.
They then set out on the open
road, after dramatically breaking
their cell phones in a gesture to
symbolize freedom. At this point,
the movie's only joke - middle-
aged suburban dads riding motor-
cycles - gets tiring. There are far
too many long stretches in which
the four men coast on their bikes
through open fields while the
soundtrack plays hit songs of the
past, representing freedom, or
something like that.
Crazy mishaps abound (acci-
dentally burning down their tent,
skinny-dipping in a pond), each less Vroom, vroom.
funny than the last. Eventually the
1 1 1 Y
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WARNER/ELEKTRA/ATLANTIC STAGED
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Keruoac is
rolling in his
grave right now.
Wild Hogs stroll into an evil biker
bar runby Jack (Ray Liotta, "Narc"),
a "real" biker. And after Woody
accidentally blows up the bar, Jack
promptly sets out to kill them.
An hour into the film, Dudley
finds a love interest in the form of
Maggie (Marisa Tomei, "My Cousin
Vinny"). She serves no real purpose
except to stand around, look pretty
and care a lot about her diner. Why
she would go for Dudley, an awk-
ward computer geek who can barely
hold a conversation with a female, is
a mystery, but so much ofthis movie
is already incomprehensible that it
remains the least of our worries.
Naturally the men stand up to
Jack and his gang of big, bad bikers
and also eventually realize ... some-
thing. The filmnever quite makes it
clear what the lesson to learn here
is. Of course, the real lesson for
everyone involved in this film, audi-
ence included, should be to avoid
formulaic comedies at all costs.
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