Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events Review
by David N. Butterworth (dnb AT dca DOT net)January 10th, 2005
LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 2004 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
The second Daniel Handler to make it to the lemony screen this year (the first being Curtiss Clayton's commendable "Rick"), "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" is, it transpires, a series of fortunate--and extremely pleasant--surprises.
First, there's Jim Carrey, guilty of swallowing an entire movie whole on occasion and at liberty to do so herein since he plays not one but three disparate parts, each one exhibiting his immense and inimitable talent. Carrey's Count Olaf, a creepy actor cum pseudo-benefactor who lives in an imposing gothic mansion that Dracula might have rented out, doesn't exactly swamp the film--there's enough other special stuff going on to prevent that--but it's hard not to be completely captivated by his manic intensity every time he's captured on camera.
(Carrey also shows up as a mincing Italian and a crusty ship's captain. No spoiler there--it's in the preview and the sharp kids cotton on to Olaf's rather obvious disguises in next to no time.)
Then there are those lively young actors who play the three Baudelaire orphans. Four in fact, since the diminutive Sunny--a biter--is played by twins, often the case with younger children and animals. Emily Browning (as Violet the inventor) emerges as a true natural and Liam Aiken (intense Klaus) is refreshingly devoid of precociousness.
Finally, director Brad Silberling ("Moonlight Mile") directs as if his life depended on it, reeling in his performers when necessary, or letting them fly hither and yon. And he manages the shifting tones--creepy, funny, scary--confidently.
That's impressive for a film that's mostly all doom and perennial gloom. The technical credits are meritorious: Robert Gordon's screenplay (which adapts the first three of eleven books in the popular series) is brisk and unabashed; Rick Heinrichs's Tim Burton-esque production design is exhilarating (not surprisingly he worked on Burton's "Sleepy Hollow"); the costumes are great, the cinematography cool.
As storyteller Lemony Snicket the ubiquitous Jude Law (in just about every other film released in 2004 it seems) narrates this macabre, unfortunate tale about Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire whose parents are killed in a mysterious fire and who, by turns, are shuttled from one ineffectual guardian to another.
These include their herpetologist Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly), their panphobic, grammar-obsessed Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep), and the afore-mentioned devilish and duplicitous distant relative Count Olaf, who's primary preoccupation is to get his greedy mitts on the children's considerable inheritance even if it means, well... knocking them off.
It's tremendous fun watching Carrey go at it but this is a film that works as a whole, as fun for the family as it is for his fans. With these same principals on board into the future "Lemony Snicket" is a franchise (unlike, say, the "Harry Potter" series) I could easily tolerate.
Oh, and in case you were wondering what a snicket is (lemony or otherwise), ask any old Anglophile worth his salt and he or she will tell you it's chiefly Brit.-speak for a ginnel.
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David N. Butterworth
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