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Back Shelf Beauties
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Lemony Snicket's Many kids are excited to see one of their favorite book series come to life on the screen, and Paramount is praying to the Gods of Hollywood Box Office that they have another Harry Potter craze on their hands (Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep don't come cheap). Kids and Paramount should be mildly happy this weekend, but not ecstatic. Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam "Don't Call Me Clay" Aiken) and Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) are the Baudelaire children who are growing up in a wealthy, loving, and nurturing home where they learn valuable skills. Violet is a master inventor. Klaus has read just about every book you can imagine, and Sunny, the toddler, is good at biting things (which is what you do when you're a toddler). Life is perfect, but that all changes when their parents perish in a suspicious fire. With nowhere else to go, the Baudelaire children are taken to live with their closest living relative, Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) - an evil man who forces them to perform hard labor around his crumbling, filthy, decrepit home. He always seems more concerned about their inheritance than their well-being, which puts the Baudelaire children in grave danger. Olaf doesn't care about them. He wants the kids dead, so he can take their money. Are the Baudelaire children safe? Will Olaf succeed? Can anybody help them? As you can tell from the description, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a very dark movie, so you might want to be careful bringing little ones to the theater. I can see 8-year old children coming out of the theater asking plenty of worried questions about their parents' well being and the thought of death. Of course, if your kids would be pleased at the thought of your death, maybe this movie will show them the grass is not always greener on the other side (I am going to get so many angry e-mails for saying that). The dark tone puts director Brad Silberling in a weird, in-between place. The story requires him to show children in peril, but the scenes are reduced down to semi-intense action sequences to avoid scaring children too much. Also, Silberling is very careful not to show any of the murders that take place during the movie. The act is always implied as he fades to black, while the dastardly deed is done, or we come across others speaking or investigating the scene a day later. However, other portions of the film scared me out of my seat, like several scenes featuring snakes. While artistically I wish Silberling were able to take the handcuffs off and show us the most graphic and scariest version of the events, I can understand why he doesn't. I'm sure parents will be grateful to him. On the good side, Silberling takes full advantage of Robert Gordon's script (based on three of the books by Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket) and the opportunity to visually interest us. Narration from Lemony Snicket (Jude Law), a secretive author locked away in a clock tower breathlessly telling us the tale of the Baudelaire children, soars with amazing descriptions, a sense of humor, and interaction with the live scenes on the screen. Law displays wonderful timing and emotion as he delivers the lines, and Silberling (along with editor Dylan Tichenor) cuts it together with precise skill. Our director is able to show us many of these wonderfully described moments like the character's traits and quirks, creates a magical world with old fashioned touches (like car phones that resemble old rotary phones complete with the wires), and shows us some fun sequences (like when Klaus tries to remember something he read in a book and we see the books being pulled out of the bookcases). Also, Gordon and Silberling allow little Sunny to steal the show. Since she is just a toddler, Silberling provides subtitles, so we can understand her baby talk, which is a hilarious take on the situation and fun interaction with her siblings. These are the movie's best lines, but parents have to be careful because they are sassy comments that come up to the fringe of inappropriate (for example, she says, "Bite me"). While kids might be the stars, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events features several adult actors. Carrey is outrageous and funny as Count Olaf, tempering his performance to show us Olaf's evil side without scaring the little kids too much. I'm always amazed at his ability to bring a character to life underneath so much make up (The Grinch, The Mask), and he does it again here, especially taking advantage of delicious lines like, "I'll take care of these orphans as if they were wanted." Also, Meryl Streep comes along for the ride in a funny role as the children's unknown Aunt who is afraid of everything, especially realtors. It's a quirky role that gives Streep a chance to be funny. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a basic movie with a simple plot often pushed aside for set design and makeup artists. Silberling and Gordon make sure to set up a sequel by teasing us with a larger mystery, but I wish we had been able to learn more about that in this movie. I guess I'll have to buy the books, and read them if the suspense gets to me. 2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com
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