Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy, Family, Fantasy, Fairy Tale, Black Comedy, Detectives, Urban, Animals, Teenage, Murder, Courtroom, Marriage
Tagline: On December 17, Christmas cheer takes a holiday.
Plot: Directed by Brad Siberling, LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS follows the Baudelaire orphans--Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken), and baby Sunny (played by twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman)--as they are followed by the wicked Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). A distant relative and an awful actor, Olaf is determined to claim the fortune willed to Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, whose parents died in a mysterious fire. Enigmatic author Lemony Snicket (Jude Law) recounts the adventures of the three children as they change hands from the conniving Olaf to the reptile-loving Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) to Aunt Josephine (Meryl Steep), who lives in fear of just about everything.An adaptation that condenses the first three books in the series--THE BAD BEGINNING, THE REPTILE ROOM, and THE WIDE WINDOW--into one installment, the film captures the darkly humorous tone of the popular children's novels by Lemony Snicket (AKA Daniel Handler). Carrey clearly has fun with his intentionally over-the-top role as the villain, while the young actors embody their resourceful characters wonderfully. The true star of the film, however, may be the production design of Rick Heinrichs (SLEEPY HOLLOW), which creates a visually stunning world filled with gothic mansions and ramshackle houses. By
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 ''A Series of Unfortunate Events'' suffers from one of the most grievous maladies that can strike a children's film, notably a regrettable tendency to fill in all the quiet with noise.--Manohla Dargis (The New York Times)
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events manages to remain witty throughout. Coupled with its fast pace and occasional cliffhangers, that makes it a candidate for an easy recommendation, regardless of whether you have previous experience with the books or not.  --James Berardinelli (ReelViews)
This adaptation of the popular children's book series gets so much right. So why does it feel so wrong?--Stephanie Zacharek (Salon)
Despite the tongue-in-cheek warnings issued by narrator Lemony Snicket himself (Jude Law, seen in silhouette only), the film seems a little scary for young kids and is way too silly for older ones.--Jack Mathews (New York Daily News)
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| Cast |
Jim Carrey
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, Dumb & Dumber |
 | Jude Law
Artificial Intelligence: AI, Road to Perdition, The Aviator |
 | Timothy Spall
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Last Samurai, Vanilla Sky |
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 | Billy Connolly
The Last Samurai, The Boondock Saints, Indecent Proposal |
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| Music By |
Thomas Newman
The Shawshank Redemption, American Beauty, The Green Mile |
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Thoroughly enjoyable and darkly funny thoughout, this is a beautifully designed, impressively directed film with exciting action sequences and terrific comic performances from its cast.  --Matthew Turner (ViewLondon)
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