Like Carrey, like 'Snicket' - otherwise, a series of near misses

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

Paramount Pictures presents a Brad Silberling film, starring Jim Carrey and Meryl Streep. Written by Daniel Handler and Robert Gordon. 113m. PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language.

3 stars

This is a pretty scary review, full of creepy crawly things, villainous relatives and sudden, tragic death. If you want a review about happy elves, try last year’s criticisms of Will Ferrell films.

OK, don’t say I didn’t warn you. In the yesteryear of days most likely gone by, Bostonians Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire lose their parents in dastardly fire and are sent to live with a series of quasi-relatives, including the greedy Count Olaf (Jim Carrey).

Olaf, a Lon Chaney-cum-Carrey character, lives in a decrepit mansion that would fit snugly on the same block as the Edward Scissorhands palace. As the “third cousin four time removed” - or is it the “fourth cousin three times removed”? - Olaf accepts guardianship of the children in order to capitalize on their inherited fortunes.

Soon, however, inventor Violet (Emily Browning), book-savvy Klaus (Liam Aiken) and baby biter Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman) recognize Olaf’s nefarious plan and escape his devious clutches - well, at least temporarily.

Thus begins “a series of unfortunate events,” including a stay with snake tamer Monty (Billy Connolly), cowardly Josephine (Meryl Streep) and almost-legitimate, but unseemly, marriage.

Part of the apparent charm of this film adaptation of a best selling children’s book series is it sardonic take on truly grim fairy tales. Author Daniel Handler writes under the pseudonym Lemony Snicket (in the film, Jude Law), who acts as an uninterested reporter of the facts. If you want happy endings, Snicket says, it’s not too late to see the film about a happy little elf.

The film will be a tense affair for the littlest moviegoers but most likely, despite its apparent moodiness, an enjoyable addition to the Christmas offerings for the more mature of the pre-teens.

Although it’s not a holiday film, per se, Carrey does provide the appropriate Scrooge to the children’s attempt to Pollyanna their situation. He appears in “Snicket” as three different roles, each seemingly a conscious attempt to outdo the one that came before it. As audience members, we’re the true benefactors of such an attempt.

As Olaf, Carrey’s costume and mansion is such a pastiche of styles that it can only be described as squalor chic. The entire production design, in fact, is reminiscent of dark, moody and fantastical pieces like “Sleepy Hollow” and “Big Fish,” two films from uniquely odd director Tim Burton. (A quick scan of the art department on “Snicket” finds a costume designer, production designer and art director from Burton’s regular crew).

The visually dazzling, but burned out-looking, sets create an uneasy tone for the picture, which is catalyzed by Law’s occasional warnings to abandon all hope, ye who dare watch “Snicket.” But the film also has another leaning too - it includes a precocious little baby, who gnaws at everything in sight and has a nonsense dictionary that translates into outrageously funny barbs.

The film manages to get a lot of mileage out of Sunny’s biting and, at times, the actions even upstage Carrey’s input. While his Olaf is just plain creepy, his disguise as Stefano, the herpetologist’s assistant, is charming and silly. Carrey completes the trifecta with Captain Sham, who actually woos grammarian Aunt Josephine (and us all) with lines like, “He’s just a by-berry just out of his OshKosh B’goshes.”

And although Carrey plays a prominent part in “Snicket,” his absence in other scenes cause the film to wane into watch-checking territory. The film will most likely whiz by for children, many of whom laughed long after their parents adopted glazed stares.

While the film plays fancy free with our imagination, it could have done a better job in making the events surrounding the Baudelaire parents’ untimely demise a little more clear. The film, I’m told, synthesized three books into one. And while that saves us from a 14-movie series, I’m still left scratching my head about secret societies hinted at and the true relationships between the Baudelaire children and their guardians.

As Klaus said to his sister, “Doesn’t it strike you as odd that none of our relatives are related to us?”

I guess we’ll just have to wait until the second film to get all our questions answered, Klaus.