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Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
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Reviews Counted:151
Fresh:107
Rotten:44
Average Rating:6.6/10
Consensus: The film adaptation of the popular books is winning raves for its set design and a wry comic charm that mitigates some morbid images. However, some have panned the film as smug and overcooked.
Runtime: 1 hr 47 mins
Genre: Childrens
US Box Office: $118,461,298
Synopsis: 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... 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 keeping the heart of the eccentric books intact, A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS proves to be an usually inventive and quirky Hollywood film. [More]
Starring: Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Billy Connolly
Starring: Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Billy Connolly, Liam Aiken, Kara Hoffman, Shelby Hoffman, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall, Catherine O'Hara, Jane Adams, Jennifer Coolidge, Luis Guzman, Jamie Harris, Craig Ferguson, Cedric the Entertainer, Dustin Hoffman
Director: Brad Siberling
Director: Brad Siberling
Screenwriter: Robert Gordon
Composer: Thomas Newman
Producer: Scott Aversano
Studio: Paramount Pictures
Reviews for Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
Inventive ideas catapult off the screen and characters larger than life reach out to embrace the audience in a story telling hug that lasts throughout the film's running time.
We can be grateful that the series has given Carrey one of his better vehicles in recent years, and that Carrey has risen to the occasion so well.
It's all a bit superficial, but highly entertaining, wickedly funny, and alluring enough to make you want to start reading the books.
If you sit back, relax and just accept it for what it is -- an enjoyable, escapist Gothic pantomime -- you will go home happy.
...Carrey delivers a broad performance that's more distracting than anything else.
Successful in kicking off a largely amusing and visually engaging franchise.
A sick joke of a film that realizes the best children's entertainment doesn't hide from the bleaker side of life, but plunges into the void and respects kids enough to assume they can handle it.
...recognizes that it’s okay to present scariness, gloominess and sadness, as long as you present strong, pure hearted children whose inherent cleverness cuts through it all.
Not many children’s movies center on recently orphaned children delivered to the home of a homicidal thespian. Then again, not many children’s movies are as good as this one.
'Inteligente, divertida y arriesgada en su propuesta visual y temática, es una aventura que no se pueden perder'
The main blight on the festivities is that, as always, Hollywood can't resist adding a little uplift.
Un filme divertido y hermosamente fotografiado, pero un poco “o un mucho” sobreactuado y finalmente, un tanto simplón.
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