THE NUMBER 23 — * 1/2 — Jim Carrey, Virginia Madsen, Danny Huston; rated R (violence, profanity, sex, gore, drugs, brief partial nudity).

The title "The Number 23" refers to a series of numerological coincidences and a resulting conspiracy theory that was popularized by a trilogy of novels that were co-written by the late Robert Anton Wilson.

But in this case it could also refer to the number of gaspingly dumb plot contrivances in this ineffective suspense-thriller, which borrows its visual style from the 1995 serial killer thriller "Se7en" and at least a few of its story elements from last year's considerably better fantasy "Stranger Than Fiction."

And like that latter film, "23" features a comic actor trying to play a mostly straightforward, dramatic role: Jim Carrey. (For those who have forgotten, it was Will Ferrell in "Stranger Than Fiction.")

Unfortunately, Carrey's unconvincing performance here turns it into his funniest film in years. He stars as the unlikely named Walter Sparrow, an animal-control officer who believes the similarities between his real life and events in a novel he's reading are more than a coincidence.

Walter's wife, Aggie (Virginia Madsen), picked up the book in a secondhand store as a lark but becomes worried when her husband's obsession with it grows.

He's even become convinced of a "curse" involving repetitions of the number 23. And lately he's had nightmarish visions in which he murders Aggie.

This isn't the kind of material that suits either Carrey or director Joel Schumacher ("The Phantom of the Opera"). And fantasy sequences in which Carrey is a shaggy-haired, tattoo-covered detective who plays a saxophone are so ludicrous they're laughable.

He's not the only one playing multiple roles, though. Madsen is fine as Walter's wife but looks uncomfortable as a fantasy femme fatale. (Perhaps she should have had her name removed from the credits, as veteran character actor Bud Cort apparently did.)

"The Number 23" is rated R for disturbing violent imagery (slashings, suicidal acts and violence against women), strong sexual profanity, simulated sex and other sexual content, gore, drug content (references and use of animal tranquilizers), and brief partial female nudity. Running time: 95 minutes.

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E-mail: jeff@desnews.com