Despite the presence of usually stylish director
Joel Schumacher and usually comic actor
Jim Carrey, it would be hard to mistake The Number 23 for anything other than a thriller based on a listen to the soundtrack album, and that goes for just about any point on the album; the CD is as disturbing an experience when set to random sequencing as it is when played from the beginning. Composer
Harry Gregson-Williams, apparently allowed a reasonable budget, has hired a full orchestra along with some guest soloists (trumpeter
Jon Hassell, violinist
Hugh Marsh, cellist
Martin Tillman, and guitarist
Peter DiStefano) and mixed the acoustic instruments with electric ones and a lot of synthesizer sounds. The programming does the heavy lifting of creating odd percussion tracks, quick, dramatic crescendos and sudden, jarring climaxes, but the strings provide more conventionally unsettling effects. The combination makes for a musical bed that effectively supports a story of paranoia and conspiracy theory. ~ William Ruhlmann