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 "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" Chris' Review: "I'm sorry, I don't speak *monkey*." I was really looking forward to this movie. I mean, REALLY looking forward to it. I had tried to see it on a number of occasions prior, and I kept either just missing the start time, not being able to see it because I had a previous engagement to attend before it would let out, or I would show up at the theatre and they would have just changed the movie and it was no longer there. Really it was a series of unfortunate events that kept me from seeing it... ironic, isn't it? So I was ecstatic to be finally in a theatre with a Lemony Snickett ticket in my chubby little fist. I have never read any of the books but the previews looked amazing, Jim Carrey is always a favorite of mine, and any movie with a title that long and pretentious just HAS to have something up it's sleeve. I had VERY high expectations for this film. My general rule is that films never live up to high expectations. You get yourself all hyped for something and most films can't possibly meet that gorgeous picture that your imagination has conjured, let alone exceed it. There are some exceptions to the rule, but they are few and far between. Lemony Snickett's: A Series of Unfortunate Events is one of those rare jewels. From the opening scenes of an overly saccharine "Happy Little Elf" animation with voice-over by Snickett (Jude Law) to the silhouette puppetry at the end credits, it was a joy to watch. The visual design of the movie was incredible. Dark, mysterious, fanciful and intimidating. The style of every stick of furniture and every room of every house made you want to melt in your seat to avoid the possibility that you could get sucked into this dreary, creepy, yet amazing world. Jim Carrey (as Count Olaf) was, as per usual, amazing. He spun around every scene, every character, chewing on scenery as he went. The elasticity of character never failing. He lent a beautiful amount of cynic mischeviousness to a sinister role. My only possible complaint is that he might have been a bit too mischievous and not enough sinister, similar to how he portrayed the Grinch. He has a tendency to be a bit too goofy when the part doesn't call for it... but it also could have been a directional fault, trying to keep the subject matter a tad lighter. As wonderful as Jim Carrey was, his performance was over-shadowed by the Baudelaire children (Emily Browning - Violet, Liam Aiken - Claus, Kara and Shelby Hoffman - Sunny). Rarely have I seen the likes of these fine young actors. Having ONE of them in the movie would have been great, but to combine the talents of the three of them was enormous. Speaking of chewing scenery, the twins who played Sunny were just incredible. I looked in the credits and could not see that any portion of Sunny's character was CGI. So my only assumption is that they just filmed the heck out of these little girls and eventually got her to smile and gurgle on cue! You have never seen a pre-speech actress who could inflect as much sardonic wit and irony as Sunny. Any one of the Baudelaire children deserved an Oscar nod, in my opinion... ok, maybe not Sunny... because it's obvious that she probably had little idea what was going on... but the other two were just outstanding. Haley Joel Osment good. The rest of the cast fit well in their parts, but nothing that I would consider above the norm. The film rests firmly on the shoulders of the children and Mr. Carrey... and it's quite comfortable there. The storyline, I've been told, follows quite closely to the book. Obviously things were omitted or added in order to tell the 3 books worth of story in a scant 108 minutes. Without having read the books, I can't say for sure... but the story I was told in the movie was ever so original and wonderful. Witty and ironic and painfully sarcastic. It's a movie that I'm going to watch again and again, I assure you. It makes me desperately want to search out these books and devour each one of them. I just can't say enough about this movie. I urge each and every one of you to go see it. I give it 9 thumbs up... falling short of a perfect ten only because I want a more sinister Count and the movie wasn't long enough. I wanted more. 
 Jim's Review: Lemony Snicket I'll admit it...I was initially reluctant to see this film. The way it was being marketed was simply WAAAAY to close to the "Harry Potter" films: Cute but wise kids, caricatured, over-the-top adults, gothic sets, based on a hot like of books kids and adults both liked...It just seemed as though Hollywood had done what it's so good at: Aping a successful formula with a watered-down pretender to the throne. I was wrong. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" is a stylish, well-crafted, not-at-all derivative film destined to appeal to the same demographic the books do. That being: Zygote - Corpse. "Unfortunate Events" lets you know right out of the gate that it's not going to be a happy-go-lucky kids' film full of bright colors and happy happenstance. I won't ruin all of the surprises the film has in store; suffice it to say that narrator "Lemony Snicket" (A silhouetted Jude Law, portraying the fictional version of the pseudonymous author, in reality Writer/Musician Daniel Handler...Got all that?) goes out of his way to warn you that the film and the events portrayed therein are tragic, awful, and horrible beyond description to behold. The three Beaudelaire Children, Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, (Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, and twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman, respectively) live in a resplendent, wonderful mansion home just as full of quirks as it is full of warmth. Their parents have given them all of the love and encouragement they need to grow and learn as valued people. Violet, the eldest, shows a natural resourcefulness as an inventress, cobbling together Rube Goldberg-style gadgets designed to streamline and supplement their domestic harmony. Klaus is a voracious bibliophile, devouring books...Any and all he can reach via rolling ladder in the Beaudelaires' exhaustive library. And little Sunny shows great promise as a master masticator of divine dental distinction. All three share an unspoken, unbreakable bond. Life is happy. Contentment is rampant. Obviously, it cannot last. Before long, the Beaudelaire mansion burns down, killing the children's parents. And, as the film says, "Just like that...The Beaudelaire Children became the Beaudelaire Orphans." This is the initial Unfortunate Event that kicks off the others, launching the hapless-but-resourceful kids into their own private, Edward Goreyesque world of gothic mishap. And what unfortunate events they are. The children are sent to live with what blustery social worker Mr. Poe (Timothy Spall) asserts is their closest living relative: The sinister, angular Count Olaf (Jim Carrey). Olaf is an "actor" who lives in the home the Addams Family passed over for being "too creepy." Faster than immediately, it becomes readily apparent that Olaf has no interest whatsoever in the welfare of the children...His only intent is to keep them alive long enough to find a way to thieve the substantial inheritance they are entitled to upon Violet's 18th birthday...Which is several years hence. About the storyline of the film, I will say no more...Suffice that it is delightful, funny, inventive, and suffused with a rare sense of style. The tragic proceedings unfold in such a way that their horrible nature is not emphasized nearly as much as the love, intelligence, and tenacity the children use to overcome them. Every step of the way, Olaf is there to menace them...But their unity and ingenuity means they are always a step or three ahead of his treachery. Carrey is nothing short of extraordinary. After showing us he can flex his drama chops the last few years, he's back to comedy in fine form. Ironically, his portrayal of Olaf makes more of a case for his burgeoning sophistication than "Eternal Sunshine", "Truman Show", and "The Majestic" combined. He struts, preens, and poses, thoroughly owning the role as he hasn't nice the iconic "The Mask". Every frame he inhabits is magic. He took a real gamble playing an unlikable villain (not to mention said villain's rangy permutations); and were it not for the Academy's inherent disdain of comedies, he'd surely have fetched his long-overdue nomination for this film. But "Unfortunate Events" really belongs to the children. Emily Browning amazes. She brings a rare maturity to the role of Violet that one seldom sees in young actors. Violet's strength and sorrow are evident in equal amounts. She knows she is now the de facto head of the family, but she's still a kid...And she conveys the depth of that dichotomous duality with uncommon grace. Liam Aiken brings his downcast eyes and tousled hair to the bookish Klaus, and we never question his knowledge anywhere near as much as he questions the possible consequences of his practical application of it. His vulnerability and drive are not surprising when one considers that Aiken made his acting debut...Doing Ibsen on Broadway. And then there's Sunny. What more can I say about two little actresses who, at two years old, manage to completely steal a movie from the likes of Jim Carrey without even trying? Surely, with a character so young, her astonishing performance is probably more luck than much else. So maybe it's more of a testament to the performance strength inherent in the rest of the cast that in the shots where Sunny got it right...They did too. Nevertheless...Even if the rest of this movie were mediocre, it would be worth seeing for Sunny's bits alone. When I see a character this hysterical, it does nothing so much and drive home just how overused strong superlatives like "hysterical" really are. Thus, when applied where actually deserved, they lose their punch a bit... Which is a shame. Because these little girls are delightful gems. Be also on the lookout for hammy-but lovable turns from a cuddly Billy Connolly, an OCD-suffering Meryl Streep, a miscast-but-still-funny Cedric The Entertainer, and an uncredited Dustin Hoffman. Also, be sure to stick around for the end credits. Even though the curtain is down, there's still more care and style evident in them than in most whole films. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" gets eight thumbs up from me. My only real criticism of the film is that, being as it is actually based on three separate books, the proceedings move along with what sometimes feels like a hurried swiftness. Sometimes certain scenes feel like they could use a bit more fleshing out. Also, there are some mysterious plot threads that are not resolved. I assume filmmakers intend for subsequent films (or a trip to Barnes & Noble) to help clear them up, but the kids aren't going to stay the same age forever, and no more films are in production at the moment. Still, very highly recommended.
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