Four out of
Five stars
Running time:
105 mins
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.
After the success of the Harry Potter franchise, it was surely only a matter of time before someone adapted the Lemony Snicket books (Potter’s biggest-selling rival) for the big screen. Thankfully, the right choices have been made all around, with Brad Silberling proving the perfect director, although perhaps the more telling names are executive producers Scott Rudin and Barry Sonnenfeld, the producer and director of The Addams Family.
Adapted From The Books
The film is adapted from the first three books: The Bad Beginning, The
Reptile Room and The Wide Window. An unseen Jude Law plays narrator Lemony Snicket, who tells the story of the three Baudelaire orphans, 14 year old inventor Violet (Emily Browning), 12 year old avid reader Klaus (Liam Aiken) and 2 year old “biter” Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman), who communicates in a series of subtitled shrieks and gurgles that only her siblings can understand.
When their parents are killed in a mysterious fire, the Baudelaire orphans are sent to live with a series of relatives, including the sinister Count Olaf (Jim Carrey), snake-loving herpetologist Uncle Monty (Billy Connolly) and nervous widow (and grammar fanatic) Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep). However, although the children initially manage to outwit Count Olaf, he follows them to each of their new homes, intent on swindling them out of their inheritance, even if it means killing off their relatives…
As the title of the film suggests, the Lemony Snicket books are gleefully dark and the film takes great pleasure in its subversive humour, successfully stripping away the sugar-coated sentimentality usually associated with family films. In addition, the action sequences are both inventive and genuinely exciting, such as the kids’ thrilling escape from the path of an oncoming train, or a nail-biting sequence involving a disintegrating house.
Production And Design Astonishing
The production design of the film is astonishing, from Count Olaf’s
mysterious mansion to the snake-themed Reptile Room to Aunt Josephine’s
rickety cliff-side house – you’ll want to see the film again just to examine the backgrounds in more detail. There’s also a terrific score from American Beauty composer Thomas Newman, as well as a delightful animated final credits sequence from Jamie Caliri, Todd Hemker
and Benjamin Goldman (who got in touch to tell us they were responsible after we erroneously gave credit to the people responsible for Catch Me If You Can).
The performances are wonderful. Browning and Aiken make extremely appealing leads and, on the strength of this, have promising careers ahead of them. As Count Olaf, Jim Carrey is both creepy and hilarious - he gets all the best lines, but his performance never threatens to overshadow the film. That said, all three leads are frequently upstaged by the Hoffman twins, who almost steal the film with their subtitled biting antics – it’s only a shame that they’ll be too old to reprise the role if they film the sequel.
To sum up, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events is a thoroughly enjoyable film that both kids and adults will enjoy. It’s also a refreshing antidote to the usual sugary nonsense you associate with Christmas holiday films. Highly recommended.