Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events ★★½ 2004 (PG) Visually splendid Burtonesque Victorian Gothic adaptation of three books from the series by Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) is playfully gruesome yet not quite subversive enough. Violet (Browning), Klaus (Aiken), and Sunny Baudelaire are wealthy orphans shuttled from one peculiar, distant relative to another. These include sinister Count Olaf (Carrey), who is determined to obtain the family fortune, snake-loving Uncle Monty (Connolly), and phobic Aunt Josephine (Streep). The siblings survive every calamity through pluck, brains, and the fact that toddler Sunny is a ferocious biter. Much hammy villainy and episodic adventure abounds, to enjoyable effect. a silhouetted Law (as Snicket himself) supplies ominous narration. 107m/C VHS, DVD. US Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Kara Hoffman, Shelby Hoffman, Jude Law, Timothy Spall, Catherine O'Hara, Billy Connolly, Meryl Streep;
Director:
Brad Silberling;
Writer:
Robert Gordon;
Writer:
Emmanuel Lubezki;
Cameo:
Thomas Newman. Oscars '04: Makeup.
