Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)

When a massive fire kills their parents, three children are delivered to the custody of cousin and stage actor Count Olaf, who is secretly plotting to steal their parents' vast fortune.

Director:

Brad Silberling

Writers:

Robert Gordon (screenplay), Daniel Handler (books)

Stars:

Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Jude Law

Won 1 Oscar. Another 7 wins & 21 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jim Carrey	...	Count Olaf
Liam Aiken	...	Klaus
Emily Browning	...	Violet
Kara Hoffman	...	Sunny
Shelby Hoffman	...	Sunny
Jude Law	...	Lemony Snicket (voice)
Timothy Spall	...	Mr. Poe
Catherine O'Hara	...	Justice Strauss
Billy Connolly	...	Uncle Monty
Meryl Streep	...	Aunt Josephine
Luis Guzmán	...	Bald Man (as Luis Guzman)
Jamie Harris	...	Hook-Handed Man
Craig Ferguson	...	Person of Indeterminate Gender
Jennifer Coolidge	...	White Faced Woman
Jane Adams	...	White Faced Woman

Storyline

Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire are three intelligent young children who receive terrible news that their parents have died in a fire and have left them an enormous fortune not to be used until the eldest child is of age. When they are sent to live with Count Olaf, a greedy distant relative, they soon learn he is trying to steal their fortune for himself.

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Plot Keywords:

count | fire | orphan | children | death | 

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Taglines:

Mishaps. Mayhem. Misadventures. Oh joy.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Paramount Pictures - Count Olaf site

Country:

USA Germany

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 December 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

Lemony Snicket

Filming Locations:

Downey Studios - 12214 Lakewood Boulevard, Downey, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$140,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$361,125 (Japan) (6 May 2005)

Gross:

$1,918,915 (Japan) (13 May 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures, DreamWorks Pictures, Nickelodeon Movies

Technical Specs

Runtime:

108 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX DTS-ES

Color:

Black and White Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally, Brad Silberling wanted Sunny to be pure CGI. While he eventually used real babies for the part, at least four of Sunny's scenes have a CG baby because they would be impossible or dangerous for a real child to do. Among these are shots of Sunny hanging on to a table by her teeth, and catching a spindle with her mouth, and the scene where she is entangled with the Incredibly Deadly Viper.

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Goofs

When the children are sailing to Curdled Cave, their boat has a rudder. When they are leaving with Aunt Josephine, the boat has no rudder.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Lemony Snicket: [the Littlest Elf has just come to an abrupt halt] I'm sorry to say that this is not the movie you will be watching. The movie you are about to see is extremely unpleasant. If you wish to see a film about a happy little elf, I'm sure there is still plenty of seating in theatre number two. However, if you like stories about clever and reasonably attractive orphans, suspicious fires, carnivorous leeches, Italian food and secret organizations, then stay, as I retrace each and every one...

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Crazy Credits

After the end credits roll (and before the credits end), "The Littlest Elf" theme song plays in the background, and then the elf's laugh is heard is the Paramount logo appears on screen.

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Connections

Referenced in The Simpsons: Bonfire of the Manatees (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Loverly Spring"
By Thomas Newman and Bill Bernstein

User Reviews

Yummm...lemony...and snickety, too!

First of all, let me go on record saying that I think this is a wonderfully entertaining film. The sets and costumes are perfect; even the little details like the odd instruments on the car dashboard were carefully thought through for their effect. Jim Carrey is perfect as Count Olaf and his disguises, partially because he has always been adept at creating convincing odd characters with his flexible face and voice. The kids were likable, even the cute baby. Thomas Newman's score is a quirky mix that's just right for the film. (I want to ask him if there's a reason why one of his themes sounds like "We Three Kings" gone awry.) I'm writing this comment primarily to respond to the wacky criticisms of LEMONY that I've been reading here on IMDb. Most fall into two categories: 1) people who don't "get" the movie and haven't read the books (and therefore are offended by its dark tone), or 2) adolescents who are obsessed with the books and are disappointed that their little dreams of how the movie should be haven't been perfectly realized (e.g., "the boy doesn't have glasses, so this movie stinks").

Let me address the second group. WAKE UP!! The Lemony Snicket books are a pre-packaged, heavily-marketed series that was deliberately created to appeal to your age group...the Harry Potterites. Unlike the history of J. Rowling and the Potter books, the Snicket books were the result of some money-mad marketing guru coming up with the idea and finding a writer to execute it.

The Snicket series is not "classic children's literature," although I must say that the actual author has done a fun job with the idea (yes, I have read several of the books, in case you're wondering). One Snicket book does NOT equal one Potter book in length or quality; therefore it's perfectly suitable that they put three Snickets together for this movie. The little gimmicks that made the early books amusing (the author's asides to define words, the translations of the baby's gurgles) become tediously annoying tics in the later books. And if you're going to have a tantrum because someone's hair isn't the color you imagined, or an actor is taller than you thought he should be, WELCOME TO THE REAL WORLD of movie adaptations! Perhaps if someone took liberties with Jane Austen, Dickens, or Tolstoy, it would be worth getting upset...but this is LEMONY SNICKET, for crying out loud! Read some real books for a change; not just cynically contrived kiddie lit designed to make big bucks with marketing deals and product tie-ins.

And to the first group I say...lighten up and read a couple of the Snicket books before you lament about the "dark tone," or the abuse of children, etc., etc. It's part of the joke, and one of the aspects of the books that the producers did a good job conveying on screen. In fact, the movie even softened the tone a bit with the touching flashbacks about the missing parents, building a "sanctuary," etc.

And what's with the wonderful, yet thrown-away closing credits? Seems to me these were made for the opening, but they realized that they would conflict with the "faux" Elf movie that starts the film. As someone else said, this is one of the most delightful parts of the film, but my son and I were the only ones who stayed to watch! DON'T LEAVE THE THEATER 'TIL IT'S OVER!