"Lemony Snicket''s A Series of
Unfortunate Events" is a movie for
everyone: kids, parents, Jim Carrey fans of all ages
and anyone who
enjoys an exciting, snappy tale of adventure.
Director Brad Silberling and his squad of enthusiastic storytellers
sculpt a work of lavish imagery, instantly lovable characters, rousing
adventure and slick, all-ages comedy.
The movie follows three wounded but intelligent
orphans who lost their
parents in a fire and are forced to ricochet from home to home as their
dastardly distant relative Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) schemes to make
their lives miserable and steal their inheritance. The story is
composed of three books in the series by Daniel Handler, whose pen name
is Lemony Snicket.
An ingenious opening animated sequence rushes the audience through a
sick-sweet forest of happy little elves, then Jude Law''s narration as
Snicket kicks in, warning the audience that if they want to see a happy
movie they''re in the wrong theater. Then he introduces us to the sad
orphans: Violet (Emily Browning), the eldest, who improvises
inventions; Klaus (Liam Aiken), a bookwormish know-it-all; and baby Sunny (Kara Hoffman and Shelby Hoffman), who . . . bites things. Hard.
Even though the trio is weak, small and callow, the children work so
well as a team you wouldn''t want to mess with them. Tell that to Olaf,
the first guardian of the kids, who turns them into servants in his
rancid mansion while he schemes to have them killed to get his hands on
their inheritance.
Olaf, a bundle of sneers, exaggerated facial contortion and gleeful
evil, is the type of ham sandwich Carrey loves to chomp and smack. His
insidiously comic battles with the orphans provide the movie''s greatest
joys. Olaf dons a variety of disguises to stalk the kids once they
escape to the care of the eccentric, oblivious Uncle Monty (Billy
Connolly) and Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep). The movie is empowering to
kids because of its depiction of comically stoogish adults, who are no
match for the heroic, resourceful young''uns.
Law''s narration is exquisite, saving screentime with voluminous
exposition and setting up and commenting on the relentlessly
unfortunate events with sly, subtly subversive pomp. Echoing the
writing style of Handler, Law speaks in lachrymose, foreboding tones,
and forgoes talking down to the viewers in favor of matter-of-factly
telling the sometimes painful story - the kids are often threatened
with death, and several key characters are killed.
Unlike the visually superb but soulless "Harry Potter" movies, "Lemony"
is an adaptation of best-selling kiddie literature that does not lose
the spirit of the source material. Instead of taking the "Potter" route
and attempting to cram hundreds of pages of happenings into bite-size
episodes, "Lemony" tells its own story, chipping away at its source to
find the best possible movie buried inside. The result is a
free-flowing narrative that feels not like a book speed-read on tape
but a brisk campfire story well told.
No spoonfuls of sugar here, and no happy elves. And no walking out of
the theater underwhelmed or less than thoroughly entertained.