Obscure Movie Review Of The Week: Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events

I'm a big fan of the Snicket books. Well, maybe I have to revise that. I've never actually read a single one of them.

I'm a big fan of having Tim Curry read me the Snicket Books. His performances on the books on tape is a whole lot of fun, and you can pick them up at just about any library.

I was delighted to hear they were making movies. I was a little disappointed to hear they'd feature Jim Carrey.

Count Olaf, you see, I always pictured as less polished an actor than Jim Carrey. Yes, I realize that Carrey isn't the greatest actor ever to grace the silver screen, but the man is polished. He's precise. His every movement is planned--part of why I've never bought the comparisons between him an Jerry Lewis is that Lewis came across as so spontaneous, as if he has simply stumbled into whatever actions he was making, while Carrey is so forced you never, ever, believe for a second that he is doing anything but acting.

Don't get me wrong--it works for Olaf. In fact, this may be Carrey's most believable role yet. He pulls it off. It just wasn't what I had in mind.

I was worried how they would handle the intertwining of the three storylines--would it feel too episodic? Like they were jumping from place to place haphazardly?

Kind of yes, kind of no. In some places the scenes flow seamlessly, but in others they feel bound together with the tiniest pieces of sticky chewy gum.

Perhaps the most spot-on performance in the whole movie, however, is that of Jude Law as Lemony Snicket, providing the narration. Without him, I don't think the movie would have made the slightest bit of sense to audiences. With him, I think they can buy into it completely.