Having charmed the critics with his remarkably subtle performance in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Jim Carrey is back to his over-the-top ways in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events—and on one level, this dark, twisted, amusing children's movie may be a better showcase for his unique talents. The film, based on a series of best-selling children's novels, is supposed to be about three orphans who live with a series of guardians, most of them dreadful; but the show belongs, for better or worse, to the hammy, greedy, villainous Count Olaf (Carrey). As the orphans' first guardian, he tries to steal the fortune that is being held in trust for them, and when the orphans are taken away from him, he shows up in disguise, adopting a new persona for each new guardian he must plot against.

Jim Carrey is over the top, in a good way, as Count Olaf

Jim Carrey is over the top, in a good way, as Count Olaf

This premise allows Carrey to play not only Count Olaf himself, but each of the personalities adopted by Count Olaf, who fancies himself the leader of an acting troupe made up of freakish folk who seem to have run away from the circus. At one point, Count Olaf pretends to be a nerdy expert on snakes named Stephano, and at another, he adopts the guise of a pipe-smoking, peg-legged, Newfie-accented seafarer named Captain Sham. Carrey seems to have had a blast making this film, but more importantly, he inhabits the part so perfectly that it is difficult to imagine anyone else in the role; while he does indulge in a few glaringly obvious Carrey-isms, such as screeching like a velociraptor during one of his "performances" or tossing off a quote from The Karate Kid (the books make no such pop-culture references), he also brings the character to life in a way that nails his unique mix of menace, vanity, and absurdity.

The film itself starts on a similarly strong note, and strikes just the right introductory tone, while giving the story's narration a more cinematic spin. The author of the books—in the real world, Daniel Handler, but in the stories, Lemony Snicket, a mysterious figure who may know at least some of the characters personally—always begins by telling the reader to put the book down and go read something more cheerful instead. The film's narrator (Jude Law) does just the same, telling us early on, "This is an excellent opportunity to walk out of the theatre, living room or airplane where this film is being shown." Lines like that perfectly capture the bleak silliness of the books, yet skillfully adapt it to a new form.

Violet (Emily Browning) and Klaus (Liam Aiken) look to minimize their unfortunate events

Violet (Emily Browning) and Klaus (Liam Aiken) look to minimize their unfortunate events

The story itself concerns the Baudelaires, three children whose parents die when the family mansion burns down. Violet (Emily Browning) is a mechanical genius who ties her hair up in a ribbon whenever she invents something; her brother Klaus (Liam Aiken) is a preteen bookworm with a photographic memory; and their baby sister Sunny (played by twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman) is especially good at biting things—her gurglings, incidentally, are indecipherable to all but her siblings, so the subtitles translate them for us.

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The children's fates are left in the hands of Mr. Poe (Timothy Spall), the ineffectual manager of their parents' estate, who shuttles them to their new homes without ever noticing that most of the adults he turns to are rather bad guardians. After Count Olaf's initial plans are thwarted, Mr. Poe sends the children to live with the friendly Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly), whose obsession with snakes and suspicion of his fellow herpetologists blind him to Olaf's schemes, and then the paranoid, neurotic Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep), who, despite her many fears, lives in a house perched dangerously on the edge of a cliff.

Meryl Streep as the paranoid, neurotic Aunt Josephine

Meryl Streep as the paranoid, neurotic Aunt Josephine

Somewhere along the way, however, something gets lost. Part of the problem lies with the film's structure; it is based on the first three books (The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window) and it zips through them so quickly that we never get a chance to savor the stories properly. Screenwriter Robert Gordon (Galaxy Quest) also sticks the second and third stories into the middle of the first one, and while this approach does have its merits—it is more satisfying, dramatically, to bring the story full circle than to trundle through three very different episodes—it also requires him to introduce a couple of rather awkward plot developments. (For example, Mr. Poe might be an idiot, but is he such an idiot that he would give the Baudelaires back to Count Olaf? And why does Count Olaf, who normally insists on staying "in character," abandon his disguise at a crucial point?)

More crucially, while the film keeps the darkness of the books, it loses the playfully morbid anxiety that animates them. The books give you the impression that Lemony Snicket is constantly on the run or locked inside a prison, fearing for his life, but even though the film does suggest that Snicket is in hiding as he types out his story, Law's narration is so smooth that he doesn't seem to be in any danger at all—nor does he seem to share the sense of danger that the Baudelaires must feel. This anesthetizing effect is further enhanced by the gentle score, courtesy of Thomas Newman (American Beauty, Road to Perdition).

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The Count will try anything to get his hands on the kids' inheritence

The Count will try anything to get his hands on the kids' inheritence

The film's relative soft-spokenness is, I suspect, due to the fact that director Brad Silberling is more interested in how people grieve and pick up the pieces after the loss of their loved ones than he is in all that other, wackier stuff. Every single one of his films to date has been about death, whether in forms cartoony (1995's Casper), sentimentally supernatural (1998's City of Angels) or dramatically semi-autobiographical (2002's Moonlight Mile), and it seems it is those parts of the books that resonate for him the best. And why not? The bond between the Baudelaire orphans is, after all, the emotional heart of these stories, and there is something quite stirring about the scenes in which Violet, Klaus and Sunny try to keep the memory of their parents alive.

Fans may also object to the way the film tries to tie things up a little too neatly, and in ways that might make it difficult for the filmmakers to adapt the later books. But then, who knows—it may be that the film also reveals secrets that have not been spelled out in the books, yet. Either way, we can be grateful that the series has given Carrey one of his better vehicles in recent years, and that Carrey has risen to the occasion so well.

Talk About It

Discussion starters
  1. Some of the characters talk about finding "sanctuary," or a safe place. What kind of safe places have you found? With whom do you feel safe? Family? Friends? Church? How do those places make you feel safe?

  2. Violet believes in coincidence, but Klaus says things always happen for a reason. Do you agree? Why or why not? Which do you think is more comforting? Do you think Klaus finds out the reason for his parents' death? If so, do you think the reason he finds is a satisfying one?

  3. Do you think the film presents a believable portrait of how people deal with grief? How have you dealt with grief in your own life? Do you think films that tell exaggerated tales of woe, such as this one, make those feelings harder or easier to deal with? What role does humor play in dealing with grief?

The Family Corner

For parents to consider

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is rated PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language. A few people die, but the deaths take place off-screen. Count Olaf also tries to "marry" Violet in a public ceremony, but only because it will give him legal access to the fortune held in trust for her—there's nothing too creepy about it. The children paddle a boat through a lake filled with deadly eels, and in one scene, they also have to clean a kitchen filled with rats, worms, cockroaches—and bats!

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What Other Critics Are Saying
compiled by Jeffrey Overstreet
from Film Forum, 12/23/04

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events condenses the first few volumes of a popular children's book series into an outrageous, comical fantasy that gives Jim Carrey all the room he needs to create several bizarre, hilarious characters, including the ominous Count Olaf. The children who come into Olaf's care are sure to suffer some "unfortunate events." But audiences and critics seem to think that it all adds up to one rather fortunate event … even if the original plots of the storybooks were altered along the way.

Peter T. Chattaway (Christianity Today Movies) says, "Somewhere along the way … something gets lost. Part of the problem lies with the film's structure; it is based on the first three books … and it zips through them so quickly that we never get a chance to savor the stories properly. Fans may also object to the way the film tries to tie things up a little too neatly, and in ways that might make it difficult for the filmmakers to adapt the later books. But then, who knows—it may be that the film also reveals secrets that have not been spelled out in the books, yet. Either way, we can be grateful that the series has given Carrey one of his better vehicles in recent years, and that Carrey has risen to the occasion so well."

Styling his review in the language of the novels, Steven D. Greydanus (Decent Films) says, "The film manages to be a reasonably entertaining take on a series of unfortunate events that I must acknowledge I now want to follow with the Baudelaires to the end. There is, however, no getting around the fact that fans of the books are bound to feel shortchanged by the filmmakers' decision to mix and match scattered events from the first three volumes, rather than trying to follow the stories in order."

Steven Isaac (Plugged In) says, "Unlike Harry Potter, witchcraft isn't the issue here. It's pure imagination that powers Lemony Snicket's world. That's a huge relief. But while Snicket's pre-movie warning about how dreary his story is may be a literary bauble, it's true. Parents should be prepared for questions about the possibility of their own deaths and how such an unfortunate event would affect their youngsters. I can't imagine that children wouldn't have that apprehension on the tips of their tongues after watching. They might not actually bring it up, but they'll certainly be thinking about it."

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"There is nothing spiritual about it, not one bit," writes Annabelle Robertson (Crosswalk). "It is also a very dark tale indeed that, despite a strong history of this kind of writing in literature (most notably Victorian), may alarm certain parents because it teaches children that the world is an evil place and that few adults can be trusted (although the narrative, by Jude Law, attempts to overcome this message at the end). Also disturbing to some may be the use of a few profanities … and some questionable subtitles. Such a shame. So proceed with caution. On the other hand, the film presents very clearly the battle that we all face, between good and evil. It emphasizes the values of knowledge, reading and problem-solving for children. And, as all stories must, it does end on a positive note, despite the author's claims."

Harry Forbes (Catholic News Service) calls it a "delightfully macabre" film "that adults can enjoy every bit as much as the tykes. Silberling's widescreen adaptation gives Jim Carrey a field day embodying various characters with his customary aplomb. The film has an excellent moral ending which wraps things up on a high note."

A series of positive reviews from mainstream critics offer differing views on whether Carrey improves or weakens the film.

from Film Forum, 01/13/05

World Magazine says, "The mood of the film is dark and somber, fitting for a story about the life of recent orphans, but not always a good match for Jim Carrey's over-the-top physical humor. While most adults in the film are not to be trusted, good mostly triumphs over evil in the end. The children are bound together by their parents' love, ready to overcome further 'unfortunate events' that may come if there's a sequel."

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Our Rating
2½ Stars - Fair
Average Rating
 
(4 user ratings)ADD YOURSHelp
Mpaa Rating
PG (for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language)
Directed By
Brad Silberling
Run Time
1 hour 48 minutes
Cast
Jim Carrey, Jude Law, Meryl Streep
Theatre Release
December 17, 2004 by Paramount Pictures
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