 Whether moviegoers will find Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events a fortunate or an unfortunate entertainment experience may depend on how they feel about Jim Carrey. That certainly seems to be the basis on which critics are sizing up the film. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times writes that the film suffers from Carrey's "loud, showboating performance," and writes that despite his intricate disguises in the film, "there's no mistaking his shtick or avoiding the look-at-me selfishness of his delivery." Likewise Joe Morgenstern in the Wall Street Journal comments that Carrey is "such an unseemly showoff that the movie keeps stopping in its tracks." Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe and Mail writes that Carrey's "hyperactive wisecracking performance is about as harmonious as long nails raking a blackboard." Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer praises the other actors in the film, particularly Meryl Streep, Billy Connolly, and the ubiquitous Jude Law, as the narrator, Lemony Snicket. But as for Carrey, she writes, his "shape-shifting grows intrusive and tiresome, like a seasoning that should have been applied more sparingly." On the other hand, Ty Burr in the Boston Globe notes that "the genius of Snicket is to cast Carrey as an actor -- a vain, eye-rolling, snorting aesthete of the old Edmund Kean school. ... By and large, Carrey earns his laughs without getting overly splattery." Eleanor Ringel Gillespie in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, calls the film "a fortunate addition to the holiday season. More, please -- but only if Carrey comes back, too." Peter Howell, who calls the film "a dark charmer," writes that Carrey "delivers one of his most memorable and amusing turns in a good while." Roger Ebert's review in the Chicago Sun-Times is mostly critical, but he concludes this way. "I liked the film, but I'll tell you what. I think this one is a tune-up for the series, a trial run in which they figure out what works and what needs to be tweaked." |
