Dir: Brad Silberling. US.2004. 113mins.

A vast and colourfulmovie based on the sinister kids' books by Lemony Snicket aka 34 year-oldDaniel Handler, A Series Of Unfortunate Events is set to take over theworld's movie screens over Christmas and beyond. Paramount and DreamWorksco-financed this extravagantly lavish affair and returns will be considerablein every territory, even though the books haven't achieved the same level ofsuccess around the world as in the US.

But Harry Potter itisn't. Director Brad Silberling does a fine job of keeping the tone and humourresolutely grim, but that might prove upsetting for younger children. Not onlyare the three Beaudelaire children orphaned, but they are pursued throughoutthe film and objects of myriad murder attempts. Nor is the ending particularlyuplifting, with their nemesis still at large and their future looking bleak.

Older kids, however, willlap it up and adults will relish its macabre twists and surrealistic stylings.Like a more polished Tim Burton film, A Series Of Unfortunate Events isa complete fantastical experience which takes place in a stylised world all itsown with all the sets, costumes and CGI that entails.

It's no surprise that thefilm evokes memories of Burton's Sleepy Hollow since Silberling hasemployed that film's cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, production designer RickHeinrichs and costume designer Colleen Atwood. The resulting milieu is a darkand gloomy Massachussetts of no indeterminate time period and its own peculiararchitecture.

Narrated by Snicket himself(as played in silhouette and voiced by Jude Law), the story is indeed"extremely unpleasant" as Snicket explains. The gifted Beaudelaire siblings -Violet (Browning), Klaus (Aiken) and Sunny (the Hoffman twins) - return totheir house one day to find it burned to the ground, their parents dead.

Horrified at this turn ofevents, they are taken by the well-meaning Mr Poe (Spall) to stay with theirdistant relative Count Olaf (Carrey, on inspired form), an egotistical actor wholives in a rundown gothic house. He treats them like servants and it soonbecomes clear that he is after the Beaudelaire family fortune which he willinherit if the children die.

His first murder attempt -he leaves them locked in a car on a train track - is foiled by the cleverchildren, and they are taken to stay with their eccentric Uncle Monty(Connolly), a scientist of reptiles, who embraces them and plans to take themon an expedition to South America. But the night before their departure, CountOlaf appears in the guise of a fellow scientist and Monty is mysteriouslykilled.

The kids are then taken tostay with their crazy aunt Josephine (Streep) who lives in a house teetering ona cliff over Lake Lachrymose. She lives in fear of everything and lets slipthat she, Uncle Monty and the Beaudelaire parents were all members of the samesociety and are being targeted.

Before they can discover themystery, Count Olaf arrives pretending to be a sailor in love with Josephine.She falls for the ruse and is kidnapped. She will become the victim of giantleeches before the children can finally get even with Count Olaf who now plansto marry Violet in order to inherit the money.

Crammed with visual detailand extraordinary craft, A Series Of Unfortunate Events is top-notchentertainment for most of the family, and the script and the eight remaining Snicketbooks leave plenty of room open for a second instalment. Quite howcost-effectively the spectacle and cast could be reassembled is dependent onoutstanding box office results, which is no slamdunk considering thecompetition for the family Euro or Yen from The Incredibles, ThePolar Express and National Treasure.

Prod cos: Nickeloden Movies
US dist: Paramount Pictures
Int'l dist: DreamWorks SKG/UIP
Exec prods: Scott Rudin, BarrySonnenfeld, Julia Pistor & Albie Hecht
Prods: Laure MacDonald, Walter FParkes & Jim Van Wuyck
Scr: Robert Gordon, based on thebooks The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window by Lemony Snicket
Cine: Emmanuel Lubezki
Prod des: Rick Heinrichs
Ed: Michael Kahn
Mus: Thomas Newman
Main cast: Jim Carrey, LiamAiken, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall, Meryl Streep, Catherine O'Hara, BillyConnolly, Cedric The Entertainer, Luis Guzman, Jennifer Coolidge, Kara &Shelby Hoffman, Craig Ferguson, Jane Adams