Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events

Review by: Alysa Salzberg AlysaSalzberg@TheCinemaSource.com

There's no exact formula for an excellent children's story. Some tales that seem to have everything one could want "” action, adventure, life lessons, great imagination, and such "” pass by relatively unnoticed. Others rocket to global success. Lucky for Daniel Handler (better known as Lemony Snicket), as well as numerous proto-Goths the world over, A Series of Unfortunate Events, the former's, well, series of books about three orphans and the evil count who wants to get his hands on them and their fortune, hasn't been overlooked by the public. And with their imaginative characters and settings, mysteries running throughout the series, not to mention creative use and explanation of "big words" normally left behind in the 19th century, they certainly deserve the attention.

But does Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, the movie based on the first three books in the projected 13-volume series, merit the same notice? Despite many good qualities, it's understandable why this film may not be Paramount's answer to the Harry Potter franchise. Not to say that's completely unfortunate.

Of all the good "” or even great "” things the flick has to offer, the biggest is perhaps the most noticeable: its overall look. With Victorian-esque outfits that seem to fit each character's personality to a tee, and twisted shapes, physical attributes, and landscapes, Series' set and costume designers have effectively created a sort of composite Gothic/fairytale world, something between an Edward Gorey print, an early silent film, a Tim Burton flick, and a late Smashing Pumpkins video. This look is pleasing to the eye, and plays out even better on the big screen, where its exaggerated shapes (like Count Olaf's long-limbed body, for example) are even more stretched and exaggerated-looking.

Another good thing about the movie is the way screenwriter Robert Gordon has adapted the books. Most notable are an ending that nicely ties things up, yet leaves room for (a) possible sequel(s), and the effective integration of the series' trademark asides and vocabulary explanations (always with a humorous twinge) made by narrator Lemony Snicket (an appropriately shadowy figure played in the film by the ubiquitous Jude Law). In fact, it's many of the voice-over lines that audiences will laugh at the most. To be sure, this is an impressive thing indeed, when Jim Carrey is billed as the star of the movie.

In fact, Carrey's role is a surprising one, from his marvellous physical transformation as the long-legged, long-armed (in both senses of the word), hook-nosed, grey-haired, evil Count Olaf, to how much he varyingly disappears into the character and reemerges. The scene in which we meet Count Olaf will doubtless delight many, and will bring laughter to most, but it's not so much the

character that we're meeting, as Carrey doing his familiar, fail-proof schtick. But don't write the movie off as just a Carrey vehicle; by the plot's next twist, we find him (and Count Olaf) taking on quite a different role, as the Count must impersonate a herpetologist to infiltrate the orphans' refuge with their snake-obsessed Uncle Monty (endearingly played by Billy Collins). Suddenly, we get someone who not only looks different from Carrey/Olaf, but who has a wonderful, nerdy accent, and a pencil thin mustache that even the impersonator himself admits is "askew". It's at this point that skeptics can sit back and enjoy the movie; Carrey doesn't take it over, yet the role doesn't completely squelch him "” there's a balance of power here that's intriguing to watch.

As for the other Big Name in the production, Meryl Streep comes in as the orphans' neurotic Aunt Josephine, and, as expected, she plays her role very well. Aunt Josephine's every annoying worry, every squeak and whimper, is uttered so convincingly that the audience can easily sympathize with the Baudelaire orphans, who, though polite, can barely keep from rolling their eyes, as Josephine constantly corrects their grammar or warns them to stay away from the refrigerator, which could crush them if, by chance, it were to fall (in one of the film's darkly funny twists, none of this ends up being completely useless advice).

The orphans themselves are played well enough. Besides each of their eccentricities, what's fun and interesting is the unpredictability of their roles in the family group. Older sister Violet (Emily Browning) is a strong-minded, even-tempered, proto-Hot Topic patron (check out the fishnet sleeves!) who happens to be a genius inventor, while Klaus (Liam Aiken) is the super-smart and super-well read younger brother who's also the film's heart. Which leaves baby Sunny (twinsShelby and Kara Hoffman), a genius at"¦biting and chewing"¦as both the comic relief, and the voice of reason. Even if some of their dialogues feel a bit forced, the kids are good overall, and we certainly do connect with them; by the end, there may even be a few tears in the audience.

Yes, tears. For some people, the movie might seem too gimmicky, too deliberately "morbid". Actually, the film, like the books themselves, turns out to be (mostly) clever, and "” gasp "” actually have a sort of lesson to it. Some might find this lesson to be a bit sappy"¦and yet, even they will have to nod at the wisdom of it.

A Series of Unfortunate Events may not be the poor man's Harry Potter "” in fact, it absolutely isn't. For one thing, the very fact that the film's made up of not one, but three books, gives it a strange sort of structure, where

one major conflict is confronted and resolved"¦and then another"¦and another. It makes the film's hour and 40 minutes, like Olaf's legs, seem to stretch quite long. This isn't an awful thing, because each unfortunate event that passes is engaging and amusing to watch, but the experience doesn't quite flow as smoothly as most kids' films. Then again, this is a movie that doesn't purport to be like most kids' films.

If your offspring (or you yourself) are more a fan of Jack Skellington than Prince Charming, or a staunch supporter of wearing all black, even in the dead of summer, this is their (or your) kind of flick. If you're a floral-print and kittens type, though, you still may not want to turn away from this one. It's got enough wit, artfulness, and heart (not the kind beating under the floorboards, either) that just about anyone is bound to enjoy it, even if it's not, as Lemony Snicket warns us from the get-go, a cheerful tale about a happy little elf.

Movie Grade: B+

(Note: Stay to watch the end credits, which feature wonderfully animated Gorey-like caricatures of the orphans and Olaf running around the words and columns.)

Synopsis:

Three wealthy children’s parents are killed in a Fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.