After fun with Dick and Jane, it’s time for fun with two and three. The digits pop up everywhere – and mostly together - in this goofy escapade which takes the psycho-thriller to the brain gym.

Jim Carrey (Scrabble score: 23) is Walter Sparrow, an affable dog catcher whose wife Agatha (Madsen) buys him a dog-eared paperback entitled ‘The Number 23’ for his birthday: February 3 (that’s 2/3 by US date convention, geddit?).

The book - by unknown author Topsy Kretts (think about it) - is a pulpy murder mystery about a low-rent gumshoe called Fingerling.

Walter is struck by how frequently elements of the story – and the number 23 – crop up in his own life. (The tale within the tale plays out with Carrey as Fingerling and Madsen as the dame.)

From their house number to the day he met Agatha, it all adds up the same. Initially, she indulges his obsession... until their son Robin (Lerman) hops on the number 23 to Nutsville.

Agatha’s teacher friend Isaac (Danny Huston) is the voice of reason, but the increasingly paranoid Walter casts him as the villain of the piece. But in the story, it’s Fingerling who turns to murder.

In real life, Walter’s frequent encounters with a stray dog lead him to the grave of a girl presumed murdered on her 23rd birthday. He is convinced that he is connected to her disappearance.

And if the book is a reflection of his own destiny, there’s murder afoot. So it’s in Agatha’s best interests to help him solve the mystery.

The mere presence of Jim Carrey means that the writing’s already on the wall as far as suspense and scares are concerned.

Anyway, Joel Schumacher (in his 23rd directorial feature) and Newcastle-born writer Fernley Phillips are having way too much fun mucking about in Walter’s fictional otherworld and inserting references – both overt and hidden - to dates, signs and vingt-trois trivia.

But the numerological nonsense is delivered in splashy, MTV-friendly style, and there are enough tongue-in-cheek moments to suggest that nobody is expected to take it seriously.

And yet... After the screening, the following events greeted my return home.

On the doorstep was a menu for Roehampton Tandoori Grill (23 letters). For kicks, I looked up dish number 23 - Tandoori king prawn masala (23). On the telly? 'Real Madrid v Bayern Munich' = 23; first person on screen: David Beckham, shirt number 23. The final score? 3-2. I'm not making this up.

Elliott Noble