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Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 37 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 111 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Adventure | Comedy | Family/Kids | Fantasy
Written by:
Robert Gordon
Daniel Handler (books)
Directed by: Brad Silberling
Release Date:
Theatrical: December 17, 2004
DVD: April 26, 2005
Running Time: 107 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language
Starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Jude Law, Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, Kara Hoffman, Shelby Hoffman, Timothy Spall, and Billy Connolly
Daniel Handler's popular children's book series about the misadventures of the Baudelaire orphans comes to the big screen.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: 10 Items or Less City of Angels Moonlight Mile
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site Official Book Series Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Chicago Tribune Robert K. Elder
Exceptionally clever, hilariously gloomy and bitingly subversive.
Read Full Review >Empire Caroline Westbrook
Silberling does a good job of introducing Snicket to the big screen in an impressive adaptation thats always smart, even if its rarely spectacular.
Read Full Review >Newsweek Sean Smith
Pretty charming. Audiences may like it more than critics, but everyone should agree it's one of the most wickedly stylish movies of the year.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Jennifer Frey
A gem of a movie, all its adversity and wickedness a backdrop for a story about the remarkable resilience of children
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones
Carrey is a bit of a conundrum: He's the best and worst thing about Lemony Snicket.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Ty Burr
The film's no masterpiece, but at least you're in the hands of people who know what they're doing.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Carla Meyer
Much credit for this delightfully morose children's film must go to director Brad Silberling's careful orchestration. Please note, in the vocabulary-building spirit of the Snicket books, that the word "orchestration'' here means "coaxing good performances out of child actors and keeping Jim Carrey in check.''
Read Full Review >Premiere Peter Debruge
An astounding achievement in production design, an original creation so completely in tune with the books' macabre sensibilities that even the movie's (arguably) happy ending can't diminish its satisfying sense of schadenfreude.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez
A work of wonderfully sinister fantasy. Director Brad Silberling is always mindful of his kiddie audience -- the movie is never even remotely scary.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
A pessimistic chronicle that even optimistic 8-year-olds can love.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson
Just might be Jim Carrey's finest screen role...The rest of the movie, however, isn't quite up to Carrey's level.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
At its best, A Series Of Unfortunate Events is the stuff nightmares are made of, a sick joke of a film that realizes the best children's entertainment doesn't hide from the bleaker side of life, but plunges into the void and respects kids enough to assume they can handle it.
Read Full Review >Variety Scott Foundas
Snicket's macabre tale of three newly orphaned siblings has been lavishly visualized. But for all its elaborate splendor, production pic lacks the feeling and imagination that have distinguished the best recent kidpics.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Carrey's relentless showboating is almost its undoing.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Pete Vonder Haar
Successful in kicking off a largely amusing and visually engaging franchise.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Michael Atkinson
In time, Carrey's monkeyshines, Jude Law's silhouetted reappearances as Snicket, and the inevitable descent of Beverly Hills pathos blunt the movie's fastidious dark-carnival humor.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
A lavishly mounted blockbuster that has little personality of its own except on a purely visual level.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
A visually arresting and entertaining romp, but it lacks some of the sardonic humor of the popular children's books on which the movie is based.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
A series of unfortunate events occurred during the making of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and they all had to do with Jim Carrey.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
There is no one in the movie to provide a reasonable reaction to anything; the adults are all demented, evil, or, in the case of Mr. Poe, stunningly lacking in perception, and the kids are plucky enough, but rather dazed by their misfortunes.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Though rich in visual style, the movie is unbalanced in performances and script, ranging, from scene to scene, from go-for-baroque grandeur to strident excess.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
If you wanted this "Snicket" movie (and the presumed flood of sequels) to be faithful to the novels, you have come to the wrong franchise.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
As it ticks by, laboriously, it leaves you feeling that you should be enjoying it more than you are.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
Devolves into a repetitive comedy that squanders a hugely talented cast.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano
What the movie lacks, alarmingly, is a shriveled black heart, or a big, red tell-tale one pulsing beneath the floorboards -- anything, really, that might infuse it with the sense of true dread that keeps kids coming back for second, third and 11th helpings of the willies.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Manohla Dargis
Mr. Silberling has made a movie that's far rougher in texture and tone than Mr. Handler's books, but while he doesn't have the author's sense of whimsy (or irony) he manages to construct a pleasantly watchable entertainment in all the spaces in the story not laid siege to by Mr. Carrey.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
I walked out of it feeling much the same way I did after "The Cat in the Hat" and "The Polar Express" -- jarred by its excess, undernourished by its lack of heart and bored by its lack of originality.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
Isn't nearly as cheerily unpleasant as it ought to be.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
Ends up being one of those heartbreaking movies that gets off to a promising start but never quite creaks to life, despite everyone's obvious best efforts.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
In Robert Gordon's script, Handler's hilariously literate bouts of psychological torture develop no consistent tone, voice or momentum.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Ella Taylor
Silberling and writer Robert Gordon have made the fatal error of trying to jolly up the novels, which are often funny but never, ever cute.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Jim Carrey is the prime offender here. He's such an unseemly showoff that the movie keeps stopping in its tracks.
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
I hate to sound per-Snickety, but this lemon of a movie is a sadly unfortunate event.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.5 (out of 10) based on 111 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Andrew M. gave it a9:
Having not read the books I entered the movie without knowing what it was about. I was immediatly blown away by the production and the wit of the writer. I enjoy Jim Carry and think of him as a genious when it comes to bringing life to characters. Loved the story, loved the characters and really enjoyed the beautiful art production. Have got it out again and again.
Genesis M. gave it a10:
The movie was great. The characters were brave and they understand their situation. They know how to fight.
Daniel H. gave it a1:
It was the single worst book turned into a film I have ever seen. It put me off reading the books for a week!
Sean P. gave it a3:
It was dull and lacking exictment and out of order to the books.
Danielle P. gave it a10:
Iit was realy good you should make a nother movie. I know a lot over people that want you to make a 2nd movie.
Fábio N. gave it a10:
This beauty production it's definily good,isn't a amazing adaptation but still diserve our atention.
Kakalina L. gave it a9:
I I only like this movie because of all the little funny things in it. It really cracks me up sometimes!
