This is essentially a film made for kids. It kindles to their liking and allows for them to extend the boundaries of their imagination. The director, Brad Silberling, knows this and focuses on the stuff that kids will respond to. As a result, the film suffers because it does kindle to the adult world of imagination and creativity. My viewing of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was thus tampered with because I was unable to stretch the limits of my imagination and respond to the characters as willingly as the children in the audience. The film indeed had the opportunity to be a creative and original masterpiece in the tradition of Tim Burton. It started out that way but then faded into a lackadaisical endless struggle into a bizarre and primitive world. It wasn't aided by the sight of Jim Carrey playing Count Olaf. If you're looking for a great performance by Carrey in this film, you will not find it because his acting is way too over-the-top that it fails to illustrate the true evil that lurks within the confines of Count Olaf. We get the sense that Olaf is evil, but is he evil enough? Carrey goes for cheap laughter rather than acting with subtlety and cleverness, which I thought were the essential qualities that Olaf possessed other than the fact that he was a villain. He tries to act all comedic in his sinister planning and as a result, he fails to illuminate his character's personality. If you're looking for a great comedy starring Jim Carrey, don't see this film. Rather, go out and rent Liar, Liar because he is way more funnier in that film than in Lemony Snicket's. Carrey is looking to identify himself as one of the premier actors in Hollywood. If he keeps making films in which he goes for cheap laughter like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and this film, then he will never be considered as a premier actor. He has so much talent that he fails to realize that these types of films hurt his credibility. I am not criticizing the film as much as I'm criticizing Carrey's performance. The film does have some good qualities that make it worthy of 2 hours spent at the movie theater. The performance by the terrific Meryl Streep as Aunt Josephine is subtle and filled with substance. She captures the essence of her character, who is a neurotic, grammatically obsessed woman who just wants to live in peace and Streep has fun while doing it. I only wish that we could have seen more of her. Timothy Spall is also very good as Mr. Poe. I didn't particularly like the actors who played the children except for the Sonny character (and she didn't even say a word). The look of the film is appealing enough for kids but not for adults. It is very Burtonesque in its design but not as imaginative as a typical Burton film. During my viewing, I saw a preview of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and I hoped that what I saw in that preview would be similar to what I would see in Lemony Snicket. Unfortunately, that wasn't so and my expectations dwindled because of it. I did like the narration by Jude Law as Lemony Snicket and I felt that he was essential to the plot of the story rather than just a meaningless writer who happens to be narrating the story. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events is vivid and imaginative...for kids. As for the adults, let's just say that there are much more creative films that have hit the market for us.
Lenny's Grade: C+
Lenny's Grade: C+