Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

Despite being lumbered with the most unwieldy title of the year, Lemony Snicket's A Series Of Unfortunate Events is an atmospheric if flawed take on Daniel Handler's bestselling children's books. Combing elements from the first three novels, the film charts the trials of the Baudelaire children - Violet (Browning), Klaus (Aiken) and Sunny (Hoffman) - whose parents are killed in a fire which guts their mansion. With no close relatives, their befuddled family lawyer (Spall) sends them to live with their uncle, the self-styled Count Olaf (Carrey). A disagreeable, ungainly fellow who has a rather high opinion of himself, the thespian Count doesn't waste time in plotting to kill the kids and seize their inheritance.

The uneven tone of the film is set in the film's false start in which a day-glow cartoon is interrupted by Jude Law's narration, informing the audience that they are about to go on a 'dark and terrifying' adventure. Brad Silberling nails the stylistics of the film - creating a Gothic-like world - lavish, askew and vaguely threatening. Yet despite having a wealth of material to work with, his handling of the story leaves something to be desired. The moral message - listen to the kids! They're alright! - is overplayed, while he allows the film to slag quite dramatically in places and never quite resolves things satisfactorily. Carrey's performance isn't as showy as you might expect and though he's more inclined to inject humour into the character than the required malice, he usually finds his mark. A bit like the film itself.