merelyaninnuendo
A Series Of Unfortunate EventsDespite of being goofy, questionable and even cheesy sometimes, it works like a charm and the credit goes to the brilliant adapted screenplay by Robert Gordon that keeps the audience engaged through its finely detailed peculiar world that the characters revolve around. Brad Silberling is exceptionally good on executing such premise but it required better editing. The feature scores majestically on performance level by Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep and a decent support among the young actors too. A Series Of Unfortunate Events has a darker and stronger premise than a usual kid's feature and still is light and breezy due to the stellar performances and amusing little inputs in the characters.
Filipe Neto
This film tries to adapt an infantile-juvenile story developed in several books, about the Baudelaire Orphans and the way they end up being persecuted by a distant relative, the theatrical Conde Olaf, that tries at all cost to be tutor so that he control the immense fortune that they are sole heirs. The main roles are embodied by Liam Aiken, Emily Browning and Jim Carrey but the supporting cast features Timothy Spall, Billy Connolly and Meryl Streep, among others. One of the things I noticed is that this film tells a story virtually unknown outside the universe of English literature. I've never heard of these books until I watch the movie, and even today I do not know if they're translated into Portuguese. I also got the feeling that the movie is an "unfinished work", in the sense that it was planned to end the story with a sequel that was never made.The film does not seem to make sense, but I do not know if this is intentional and already part of the books, or if it was a conscious (and bad) option of the director and the writer. The truth is that this non-sense makes it difficult to understand, mainly for adult audiences. The film also has another problem, which may also result from an intentional choice by the director: the theatrical interpretation of much of the cast. I do not know if it was meant to play with it, making it an additional joke but it turned out badly. Jim Carrey is the only one who we tolerate these exaggerations because we are already used to his hyperactive way of doing comedy. Emily Browning is the most pleasant surprise. For such a young actress, she did a very professional job, promising a good career if the young woman stayed on the rails and strive. The film bets heavily on the CGI and this ends up being a double-edged sword because, if in a way allowed another type of jokes and scenes, on the other hand it ended up visually saturating the film. One thing I liked very much, though the majority did not care, were the final credits, elaborated in a very funny way.
Python Hyena
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004): Dir: Brad Silberling / Cast: Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Emily Browning: The title sounds like the recent career decisions of Jennifer Lopez. Based on the kids book about trauma and tragedy where two children are sent to live with their scheming uncle Count Olaf when their parents pass away. He is really after their inheritance. The narration indicates that the content is dark but for a film aimed at families this is perhaps too dark. Count Olaf even arranges for the children to be hit by a train, which is disturbing for a film aimed at children. Lame plot becomes one constant pursuit until he tries to marry the eldest daughter in hints of paedophilia. Directed by Brad Silberling who previously made the dreadful Casper. Jim Carrey is a fine comedic talent but Olaf is an idiot that he even he cannot bring grace too. Supporting roles by Liam Aiken and Meryl Streep are too brief and repetitious. Jude Law voices Snicket who is never involving as a personality. The children are presented with as little personality as humanly possible although Emily Browning has potential to go further. The visual effects and art direction are the one area of major compliment but the screenplay is warped beyond repair. It contains a strong theme that exposes greed but in the long run the film itself is one big series of unfortunate events on its own. Score: 4 / 10
