Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events
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Wikipedia-Article "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"
| Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events | |
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| Directed by | Brad Silberling |
| Produced by | Laurie MacDonald Walter F. Parkes Jim Van Wyck |
| Written by | Daniel Handler (books) Robert Gordon |
| Starring | Emily Browning Liam Aiken Kara Hoffman Shelby Hoffman Jim Carrey |
| Music by | Thomas Newman |
| Cinematography by | |
| Editing by | |
| Distributed by | Paramount Pictures |
| Released | December 17, 2004 (USA) |
| Running time | 108 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $125,000,000 US (est.) |
| Preceded by | {{{preceded_by}}} |
| Followed by | {{{followed_by}}} |
| IMDb profile | |
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is a 2004 movie, directed by Brad Silberling. It is based on the first three books in Lemony Snicket's popular series of children's novels: The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room, and The Wide Window.
The film follows the adventures of three newly orphaned children (played by Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, Kara & Shelby Hoffman) who try to escape from the deranged Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) in a series of different adventures. Co-stars include Jude Law as Lemony Snicket, Timothy Spall as Mr. Poe, Billy Connolly as Uncle Monty, Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine, and Cedric the Entertainer as the Constable.
The film takes place in a highly stylized, highly anachronized version of the United States (the letter that Violet is reading near the end has a Boston address). As in the books, exactly where and when the story takes place is unclear, and there are many mixed messages. The movie has been praised for its creative sets and costumes, all of which have a dark, gothic feel, leading to a visual motif that is highly unusual and creative.
Taglines:
- We're very concerned.
- On December 17, Christmas cheer takes a holiday
- Mishaps, Mayhem, Misadventures, Oh Joy.
- Don't say we didn't warn you.
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Home video release
The DVD (widescreen and fullscreen versions) and VHS video were released on 26 April 2005. There is also a two-disc widescreen DVD Special Edition. The standard DVD package contains a single disc, however, Circuit City included a second disc with further behind-the-scenes footage and original trailers within "specially marked packages," but this "Circuit City Bonus Disc" only contains a fraction of the further bonus material that is found within the widescreen Special Edition package.
The Lemony Snicket DVD sold by Target also comes with The Blank Book, a small diary. The DVD edition sold at Wal-Mart included a copy of The Bad Beginning.
The Ebert & Roeper episode telecast during the weekend of April 30, 2005 noted that some copies of the home video included a "Two Thumbs Up!" endorsement. In fact, the pair gave the film "two affectionate thumbs down" on their show for the weekend of December 18, 2004.
Story
The film is narrated by Lemony Snicket (played here by Jude Law as opposed to the "real" Snicket, i.e. Daniel Handler), who occasionally appears in silhouette, writing the story on a typewriter in what appears to be the interior of a clock tower.
The three Baudelaire children - inventive Violet, bookish Klaus, and sharp-toothed baby Sunny - are orphaned by a mysterious fire that destroys their parents' mansion.
They are then placed in the care of bank manager Mr. Poe, who entrusts them to their "closest relative" - however, misinterpreting the phrase, Mr. Poe chooses the relative who lives the shortest distance away, the obnoxious Count Olaf. Olaf promises to take care of the orphans "as if they were actually wanted" but in fact he is only interested in the huge fortune that Violet will inherit as soon as she turns 18. In the meantime he treats them like slaves. In a controversial scene, Olaf slaps Klaus hard for daring to talk back to him.
Eventually, after a failed attempt by Olaf to murder them for the money, the children are returned to Mr. Poe's care and sent to live with their Uncle Monty, a cheerfully eccentric herpetologist with a well-stocked reptile room, who is planning a trip to Peru. Unfortunately their idyllic sojourn with Monty is cut short when Olaf turns up in disguise, pretending to be a replacement for Monty's assistant. The Baudelaires see through the disguise instantly and manage to warn Monty, but too late to prevent Olaf from killing him.
The Baudelaires are forced to move on again, this time to the shores of Lake Lachrymose, where their Aunt Josephine, who seems to have a phobia of almost everything, lives in a house precariously perched on the edge of a cliff, with a wide window overlooking the lake. The house seems to contain clues to the cause of the fire that killed their parents, but before they can discover more, Olaf turns up again, disguised as a sailor, and courts Josephine.
Later on, the orphans discover that Josephine has gone. She has left what looks like a suicide note, but which is actually a coded message telling them that she is hiding in a cave on the lakeshore. Before they can follow, the Baudelaires have a narrow escape from the house when it is torn apart by a hurricane. They eventually find Josephine, and attempt to take her to safety, but Olaf finds them first, takes the Baudelaires and leaves Josephine at the mercy of the deadly Lachrymose leeches.
Back at Olaf's home, he concocts another scheme that involves staging a play starring himself and Violet. In the play, his character will marry Violet's character, but in such a way that the marriage will actually be legal, giving him access to her money. To ensure Violet's cooperation he holds Sunny hostage. While the play is in progress before an invited audience, Klaus attempts to rescue Sunny. While doing so, he also discovers a device which seems to have been the cause of the original fire. Olaf's plan is thwarted at the last minute, but he escapes, and the children are left to ponder the future.
Like the original books, the movie contains various clues to the mystery of the Baudelaire parents' deaths. For instance, the children discover that all of their relatives seemed to own spyglasses, and acquire one themselves at the end. Count Olaf has an eye-shaped tattoo on his ankle, and Aunt Josephine's wide window is also eye-shaped. The mysterious initials "V.F.D." can also be spotted at at least one point.
There are quite a few differences between the books and the film. Many of the changes involve some dark content being toned down. An example of this is the ending of The Wide Window. In the movie, Olaf merely leaves Aunt Josephine alone to fend for herself on a sinking boat. The book's ending is much more sinister; Olaf pushes Josephine into the water, and the torn remnants of her lifejacket are later discovered.
The film makers also added to (and, in some opinions, convoluted) the "V.F.D." mystery by adding a spyglass that the members possess. So far, Lemony Snicket has never incorporated such a device into his plot.
A small part was added to the movie in the scene when Olaf tries to kill the Baudelaires by stopping his car on the rail track, locking them inside, and waiting for the train to come. Luckily, the orphans escape by using one of Violet's inventions to flip the railroad switch just as Mr. Poe arrives.
Another big change to the source materials is making Count Olaf responsible for the Baudelaire fire via a giant spyglass. It has been implied slightly that Olaf had a hand in it (he is a noted arsonist) but has never been explicitly revealed.
Trivia
- The title "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events" is not in the main title sequence. Instead, it is a claymation cartoon titled "The Littlest Elf" and after about thirty seconds, the scene abruptly stops. Snicket then begins setting up the story (repeatedly urging the audience that they have the opportunity to leave the theater, living room, or airplane where the film is being shown).
- The end titles give no credit to end-title-director Jamie Caliri or his crew.
- The movie employed a site for viral marketing, http://CountOlaf.com.
- The store in which Count Olaf (Jim Carrey) waits for the Baudelaire's death on the train tracks, is the Last Chance General Store which appears in Book the Eighth, The Hostile Hospital.
Reaction
The movie garnered a mostly positive reaction from critics, earning a 71% score at the popular critic review site, rottentomatoes.com. Most negative criticism concerned Jim Carrey's portrayal of Count Olaf, claiming that he made the villain more interesting than the heroes. Another criticism concerned the inclusion the AFLAC Duck in a scene of the movie, which came across as a shameless marketing ploy.
However, much praise was put on the child actors, especially Australian actress Emily Browning; Jim Carrey said "...Emily is just going to break a million hearts". Billy Connolly and Meryl Streep also received praise for their portrayals of Dr. Montgomery Montgomery and Aunt Josephine, respectively. It was also critically acclaimed for its artwork.
The film won an Academy Award for Makeup and was nominated for the awards for Original Music Score, Costume Design, and Art Direction.
Cast
| Role | Actor |
|---|---|
| Count Olaf | Jim Carrey |
| Violet Baudelaire | Emily Browning |
| Klaus Baudelaire | Liam Aiken |
| Sunny Baudelaire | Kara Hoffman Shelby Hoffman |
| Lemony Snicket (voice) | Jude Law |
| Uncle Monty | Billy Connolly |
| Aunt Josephine | Meryl Streep |
| Mr Poe | Timothy Spall |
| Hook-Handed Man | Jamie Harris |
| Bald Man | Luis Guzmán |
| White Faced Women | Jennifer Coolidge Jane Adams |
| Person of Indeterminate Gender | Craig Ferguson |
| Justice Strauss | Catherine O'Hara |
| Detective | Cedric the Entertainer |
| Wedding Guest | Rosemary Garris |
| AFLAC Duck (voice) | Gilbert Gottfried |
| Police Photographer | Alan Heitz |
| Ferry boat captain | Michael Earl Lane |
| Mrs Poe | Deborah Theaker |
| Critic (uncredited) | Dustin Hoffman |
External links
- Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events at the Internet Movie Database
- Two thumbs down, a review from Ebert & Roeper; audio available here in MP3 format
