It would be supremely unfair to compare director Brad Silberling's and screenwriter Robert Gordon's meandering adaptation of Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events to the excellent books from which it is derived, if only because it's hard to say how much of the blame lies with the filmmakers for excising nearly all of the intelligence and morbid excitement from the story of the Baudelaire orphans and how much lies with Jim Carrey's singularly awful performance as the villainous Count Olaf.

Carrey is at his rubber-faced worst here, chewing up the scenery like it's going out of style and relentlessly forcing himself to the center of the film. It is the same shtick we've seen countless times before, only less funny and supremely out of place for this film.

If there is any real reason to see this film, it is the excellent performances of Emily Browning and Liam Aiken, as Violet and Klaus Baudelaire. The ability of these young actors to lend gravitas to the proceedings while the adults around them (Carrey, as well as Meryl Streep, Timothy Spall, and Catherine O'Hara) do little more than mug for the camera is really what makes the film worth watching. Browning and Aiken know exactly what sort of movie they are in, even if the rest of the cast has no idea whatsoever. The youngest Baudelaire sibling, Sunny (portrayed by twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman), fares less well, though it is through no fault of her own. While Sunny's baby talk and gurgles are largely incomprehensible in the novels, her words are subtitled in the film with "clever" rejoinders that are both anachronistic and painfully unfunny.

The only other bright spot among the cast is the inimitable Billy Connolly, who makes the most of his all too brief screen time. Unfortunately, his stellar performance only forces even more unfortunate comparisons with Carrey's ham-handed overacting.

As for the production design, it seems that the filmmakers really wanted viewers to believe that Tim Burton was in some way involved with this film (he was not). The faux gothic sets and generally dark look of the film are appropriate, but the largely soulless direction disappoints on every level, leaving the whole mess to feel far more style (and derivative style at that) than substance.

Younger fans of the book aren't likely to care about any of this, as it appears the movie is really geared toward them, anyway. Older readers are far more likely to take umbrage at the virtual bastardization of the style and story, while those unfamiliar with the books at all are likely to wonder what all the fuss is about. Anyone who cares to find out should simply skip the film and pick up the books instead.

Related posts:

• Review of The Grim Grotto, Book 11 of A Series of Unfortunate Events