here, jim carrey is count olaf, the eccentric scheming uncle of the three baudelaire children (the inventor violet, the bookworm klaus, and the biter sunny) who lost their parents in a house fire, leaving them a huge sum of moolah. count olaf wants the moolah for himself and does everything he could to ruin the orphans' lives, in a dark peculiar movie that, had i not seen the credits, id swear was directed by tim burton.
whenever i am in makati and have time to kill, i always pay a visit to powerbooks to do some skimming. i first stumbled upon the lemony snicket books there sometime last year and i was only able to read the synopses on the back covers, which were more like warnings that they werent happy books. the movie started off in the same vein, that it wasnt about a giggly little elf in the forest and that you can choose to leave the theater if you want to see that one. of course, i chose to stay and watch lemony snicket's with my lovely companion.
anyways, the movie is darn good. i liked it primarily because the sets, the shots, the costumes, the overall tone of the movie had a goth feel to it. it doesnt make itself cute (well, except for the baby), the jokes arent over-the-top funny, and people really die and stay dead. totally not your average sugarcoated kiddie movie. jim carrey, eventhough not that all-out, did great as count olaf, and like id always say about him, once you watch him portray a character, you'd find it hard to think of another actor who can fit that role. he practically steals every scene he's in (which is a joke in itself because he's playing the role of a bad actor who thinks he's the best there is). the kids, although virtually uknown to me, did pretty well. violet pulled off a believable young macgyver tying her hair whenever she had an idea. klaus i think was a bit underused but the close-up shots of books sliding out of the shelves was neat. but i enjoyed watching sunny the biting baby most of all. her "acting" was splendid. the quick scene where she was helping pull the strap back into the car was a brilliant moment.
the "putanesca." "what did you call me?" scene made me laugh real hard. im not sure if it had the same effect on other people, but simple, subtle, almost nonsense gags like that never fail tickle me.
my maiden said the movie made you wish it would never end and she was right. it never bores you. i found myself anxiously anticipating what would happen next, conflict after conflict, putting the kids in trouble, with no magic powers to use or superheroes to save them, relying merely on their wits and a little bit of luck. and when the film ends, you still carry that anticipation of knowing what the future holds for the baudelaire kids. a sequel perhaps?
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