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

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Brad Silberling

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Handler (books)
Robert Gordon (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Family | Fantasy

Tagline:

On December 17, Christmas cheer takes a holiday.

Plot:

Three wealthy children's parents are killed in a fire. When they are sent to a distant relative, they find out that he is plotting to kill them and seize their fortune.

Plot Keywords:

Gothic | Macabre | Library | Irreverent | Young Boy

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 6 wins & 21 nominations

Cast

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
Jamie Harris	...	Fernald - Hook-Handed Man
Craig Ferguson	...	Person of Indeterminate Gender
Jennifer Coolidge	...	White Faced Woman
Jane Adams	...	White Faced Woman

Also Known As:

A Series of Unfortunate Events (USA) (original script title)
Lemony Snicket (USA) (working title)
Lemony Snicket - Rätselhafte Ereignisse (Germany)

MPAA:

Rated PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language.

Runtime:

108 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital EX | DTS-ES

Certification:

Taiwan:PG-12 | Canada:PG (Ontario) | France:U | Iceland:L | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Malaysia:U | South Korea:All | Brazil:10 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Chile:TE | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | Hong Kong:IIA | Ireland:PG | Netherlands:MG6 | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | UK:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

Meryl Streep's daughter loves the book series that the film is based on. According to the audio commentary on the DVD, she accepted the role of Aunt Josephine upon her daughter's request.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: Whenever Sunny bites something, we hear her bite, but don't see her bite it.

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...

Movie Connections:

References Children of the Corn (1984)

Soundtrack:

Loverly Spring

Stay for the end credits

The end credits is a ten minute long cartoon of such incredible beauty that it is a great shame that most people will never watch it. Simply its some of the best animation to come out all year.

While I can give the end credits a 10 out of 10 I can only give the rest of the film a begrudging 7 out of 10, although it should probably be a 6.5. Certainly this is a fantastically well made movie, that is for the most part very well acted but something is amiss in the tone of the film and so it never really is what it should be.

The story of three children who's parents are killed and who are forced from guardian to guardian by the murderous acts of Count Oloff is pretty bleak. And with a title like "A Series of Unfortunate Events" you really can't expect dancing elves, but the film makers have chosen to add a vein of madcap silliness to the proceedings that works against the rest of the film. It seems as if they were afraid that the material was going to be seen as too dark, which is a shame since its clear from the sequences where they left well enough alone that the film could have stood on its own.

Its a good movie, instead of the great one it wants to be.

Definitely worth seeing.