Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events parents guide

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Parent Guide

Overall B

Carey appears to relish his role as Count Olaf, an actor who cavorts about with a motley band of grimy performers that play on second-rate stages.

Release date December 17, 2004

Violence C+
Sexual Content A-
Profanity B+
Substance Use A-

Why is Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events rated PG? The MPAA rated Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events PG for thematic elements, scary situations and brief language

Run Time: 108 minutes

Parent Movie Review

Playing multiple characters in a movie can be a hard feat to successfully pull off. But in the case of Jim Carrey, who stars as a narcissistic and despicable thespian in Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, each of his reincarnations feed right into the storyline.

Carey appears to relish his role as Count Olaf, an actor who cavorts about with a motley band of grimy performers that play on second-rate stages. However, the Count’s circumstances dramatically change when he is named guardian of three orphaned children, Violet (Emily Browning), Klaus (Liam Aiken) and their baby sister Sunny (Kara and Shelby Hoffman).

The Baudelaires have just been left an enormous inheritance following their parents’ death and Olaf is intent on getting the cash into his filthy fingers.

Unfortunately for the children, life with their new custodian makes Cinderella’s circumstance look cushy. Forced to share a drafty attic bedroom and complete lengthy lists of daily chores, they fear for their lives as the Count’s dastardly schemes to acquire their fortune unfold. As a result, they are initially only too happy to meet some of their other “relatives” including the snake loving herpetologist Uncle Monty (Bill Connolly) and the excessively apprehensive Aunt Josephine (Meryl Streep).

But these children are not destined for successive sequences of superior good fortune—-a grim fact that audiences are repeatedly warned about by narrator Jude Law. No, regrettably, (dare I say it again) life is a string of bad situations for the troubled siblings.

As is often the case with children’s stories, these youngsters are forced to fend for themselves in a world where adults are portrayed as either demons or dolts. Yet unlike many other underage movie heroes, these three prove to be polite, imaginative and clever when it comes to solving their problems. They are also quick to realize their chances for survival are better if they combine their unique and individual talents of inventing, reading and biting.

The script is an unusual blend of dark comedy, fantastical sets of incredible design and outlandish characters best suited for older kids. While minimal profanities are included, some intense moments of peril as well as several off-screen murders, committed by an entirely unrepentant character, will make this film too frightening for many younger audience members.

Whether or not interest in this film (based on the first three books in the Lemony Snicket series) translates into more loans at libraries and sales at bookstores remains to be seen. But for readers already caught up in the intriguing misfortunes of this beleaguered brood, the oddly unsettling movie version of the Baudelaires’ world is not the most adverse way to spend an afternoon.

Starring Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Meryl Streep. Running time: 108 minutes. Theatrical release December 17, 2004. Updated

Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events Parents' Guide

Although the Baudelaire children do not have an ideal childhood, how do they make the best of their situation? What ability does each one of them contribute to improve their state of affairs?

How are adults portrayed in this movie? Who do the children rely on for help?

What part does reading and research play in both helping and hurting the circumstances of the Baudelaire children?

Home Video

The most recent home video release of Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events movie is April 25, 2005. Here are some details…

If you don’t have enough unfortunate events in your own life, then meet Lemony Snicket. Paramount Home Video presents this movie, based on a popular series of children’s books, in either a single or double disc version. Both editions include a Commentary Track by Director Brad Silberling, and another by Lemony Snicket and Brad Silberling, Orphaned Scenes (11 deleted scenes and 5 outtakes), as well as 3 featurettes under the title of Bad Beginnings.

The super-sized package of problems (aka; the 2-Disc Collector’s Edition) provides additional shorts, placed under the headings of A Terrible Tragedy (5 Featurettes), Sound Design (3 Featurettes), Special Effects (4 Featurettes) and 3 Still Photo Galleries.

And all this bad luck can be yours, in English 5.1 Dolby Digital.

Related home video titles:

Without any siblings to help him, a young wizard relies on his friends when he is orphaned in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Deserted by his mother, Walter is handed over to his two antisocial uncles who aren’t very happy about their new parenting role in Secondhand Lions.

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