Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (DVD, 2005, Full Screen Collection)

I was drawn to this movie after reading all the Lemony Snicket books to my children. It was a disappointment throughout.

Jim Carrey is at his hammy worst. His Count Olaf isn't the shrewdly evil menace created by Mr. Snicket; he's a clown in need of ritalin. In contrast, Violet and Klaus Baudelaire drone through their adventures without expression. These unfortunate young actors were in need of some on-set guidance; clearly director Brad Silberling wasn't up to the task. Despite their predictable escapes from inescapable situations, the kids' intelligence characterized in the books never comes through in the movie. And poor Sunny is reduced to boorish attempts at comic relief. Rather than adding insight or contributing to the siblings' successes (again, as in the books), Sunny's babytalk is subtitled with witless one-liners taken not from Mr. Snicket's clever writing, but conjured by screenwriters looking for a cheap laugh. (Sunny: [baby talk], Subtitle: "What a schmuck!" or "Back off, Parrotface!") Thankfully, whatever fart jokes the writers scripted for her were edited from the final cut. But the filmmakers were surely delighted to have Sunny threaten to bite Olaf in the crotch. (After sinking her teeth into his leg, Subtitle: "I'll bite higher!") Is there anything less appealing than the thought of a baby attaching her mouth to a man's genitals?

Timothy Spall is fine but insignificant as Mr. Poe, the children's ineffective trustee. As is Katherine O'Hara as Justice Strauss. The movie's only charming character is Billy Connelly's Uncle Monty. But alas, he is (spoiler) snuffed out before his time. Too bad we can't say the same about the entire flick.

I typically view Jim Carrey headliners as instant red flags. Is it a zany, screwball comedy full of funny facemaking? Or a serious Oscar turn? Blech. I'm not interested in movies if they are merely a vehicle for their star. Thankfully, Carrey does a fine job of stepping back and letting the story take center stage.

This is not to say that the story and the film are perfect - I was continually left feeling like I'd seen this before. At length I realized why. Based upon a series of books for young adults, Unfortunate Events is clearly an aftershock of the Harry Potter phenomenon. I'm sure Hollywood producers greedily raided their childrens' bookshelves seeking the next Hogwartmania cash cow, finding things like Lemony Snicket and the Chronicles of Narnia (coming soon to a theater near you!). They've taken an unfortunate orphan story that is very "Little Princess", added a Tim Burton-esque look, tossed in some celebrity cameos and pop-culture references for mom and dad, and left an opening for a whole series of sequels, toys, and marketing tie-ins. All in all, the resulting product is:

Good, but not earth-shaking. I think I'll read the books to see how badly Hollywood sold out the author.

I do love this movie. Almost as much as I love the books. For while I believe this movie deserves a 5/5 and love it the way it is, I would rather the movie stick as close to the book as possible. For the books are super hilarous, and I love them very much. While I think the movie is very fine itself, I would prefer it to be more like the books and full of the characters' humor and funniness. I think that the actors fit their roles really well, but I like Jim Carey as Count Olaf the best. I do like the children in the movies, but I would prefer that they look more like the Baudelaires in the books. Sunny is almost perfect, Violet is good but needs to be more like the real Violet, and Klaus needs glasses. That's one of my major dislikes about the movie. The real Klaus wears glasses! And, he's a little shorter than Violet (but that's quite ok).
While I love the movie plot(s), it's disappointing when I actually hoped that they would really stick to the book plot. For I wanted my little brothers to read the books, and I consider the books very exciting and wonderful, but when they sort of made the movie differently than what I wanted, it's a little sad. But, I still do love it! The music's as sad and as beautiful as the wonderful music from Finding Nemo, and the part at the end (which does NOT happen in the books) is touching and very sweet.

I actually think that Jim Carey is the only one who is perfect in the movie, but I can see why some disappointed fans would consider him too much of a clown. Yeah, it's true, but still, it's really funny, and I do like the kind of Olaf that he protrays. It is still Olaf, for I have a feeling that Olaf, who could be a bit more evil^o^, is like that.

The movie is topsy-turvy, or rather, different from the books, but still sticks close to ideas in the books. I do love it!!^_^

I am a huge fan of the whole series written by Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket). I have ROTFL nearly every page of every one of his books.

Jim Carrey did such an excellent job in the movie, and I loved the artistry of the cinematography, the music score, just all of it, and hope they plan to finish the series in movie sequels.

True to the Unfortunate Events books and characters this is a fun movie. Families will enjoy seeing their favorite characters come to life and face adventure after adventure in unique cinematic fashion.