Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (also simply known as A Series of Unfortunate Events) is a 2004 American black comedy adventure film directed by Brad Silberling from a screenplay by Robert Gordon, based on the first three novels of the book series A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning (1999), The Reptile Room (1999), and The Wide Window (2000), by Lemony Snicket (the pen name of American author Daniel Handler). It stars Jim Carrey, Liam Aiken, Emily Browning, Timothy Spall, Catherine O'Hara, Billy Connolly, Cedric the Entertainer, Luis Guzmán, Jennifer Coolidge, and Meryl Streep, and Jude Law as the voice of Lemony Snicket.

Nickelodeon Movies purchased the film rights to Handler's book series in 2000 and soon began development of a film with Barry Sonnenfeld attached to direct. Handler adapted the screenplay and courted Carrey for Count Olaf. Sonnenfeld left over budget concerns in January 2003 and Brad Silberling took over. Robert Gordon rewrote Handler's script, and principal photography started in November 2003. The film was entirely shot using sound stages and backlots at Paramount Pictures and Downey Studios.

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events was released theatrically in the United States on December 17, 2004, by Paramount Pictures with DreamWorks Pictures distributing the movie internationally. It received positive reviews from critics, with many praising its production values, Newman's score and performances (particularly Carrey's performance), while some criticized its comical tone and short length. The film grossed $211 million worldwide. At the 77th Academy Awards, it won the Academy Award for Best Makeup (the second to involve Carrey, after How the Grinch Stole Christmas in 2000) and received nominations for Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Original Score.

Plot

In a clock tower, investigator Lemony Snicket begins writing a documentation of the whereabouts of the Baudelaire children: 14-year-old inventor Violet, her 12-year-old bibliophile brother Klaus, and their mordacious 2-year-old youngest sister Sunny. One day, the children are orphaned when a mysterious fire destroys their mansion, killing their parents. Mr. Poe, the family banker, manages their affairs and leaves them in the care of Count Olaf, a nefarious stage actor intent upon secretly obtaining their family fortune, which will remain in the custody of the bank until Violet turns 18. Olaf forces them to do heavy chores and belittles them.

Driving back from the court where Olaf has legally obtained custody of the kids, he stops to go into a general store, leaving them locked in the car parked on train tracks with a train heading toward them, Mr. Poe calls and Violet tries to tell him that they were going to be hit by the train, but is unable to hear her due to him driving next to the train. The children divert the train by building a device to remotely activate the railroad switch. Mr. Poe arrives and takes them away, thinking that Olaf was allowing the kids to drive the car alone.

The orphans are taken to uncle Dr. Montgomery "Monty" Montgomery, an eccentric herpetologist who treats them incredibly kindly. One day, Olaf arrives disguised as a new assistant "Stephano". The orphans attempt to warn Uncle Monty about Count Olaf's arrival, but he believes Stephano is after the Incredibly Deadly Viper, a giant misnomer python, in his laboratory that he discovered. Uncle Monty is discovered dead shortly after, and his death is blamed on the viper, although the children are certain that Count Olaf murdered him. They are almost placed in Stephano's care by Mr. Poe, but Sunny proves his guilt by showing that the snake is harmless, and Stephano escapes.

Mr. Poe takes the children to their Aunt Josephine, a grammar-obsessed widow with panphobia, living on a house at the edge of a cliff. Olaf later appears, disguised as a sea captain named "Captain Sham", to meddle with their plans again. One day, Josephine is not at the house, leaving an apparent suicide note entrusting them to Captain Sham. Klaus deduces that Olaf forced her to forge the note, but she left a hidden message revealing her location. Hurricane Herman arrives, causing the house to fall into the lake; however, the children escape. They sail to the cave where Aunt Josephine is hiding and rescue her but attract leeches due to eating a banana. Olaf appears and takes the children, leaving Josephine to be eaten by the leeches. Mr. Poe then finds him with the children, and Olaf pretends to have rescued them. Mr. Poe is fooled and returns the children back to Olaf, believing that he has redeemed himself.

Olaf plans a play titled "The Marvelous Marriage", starring Violet and him as a bride and groom, respectively. Klaus's suspicions reveal that Olaf is planning to take advantage of the play to really marry Violet in an attempt to get the fortune, using legally recognized vows and a bona fide justice of the peace. Olaf locks Sunny up in a birdcage, threatening to drop her to her death if Violet refuses to take part in the play. Klaus escapes and finds a hidden tower in Olaf's house, where he discovers a large window with a set of lenses that, if positioned correctly, can focus the rays of the sun. Klaus realizes that Olaf used it to set fire to the Baudelaire mansion. Using the window, Klaus manages to burn the marriage certificate, leading to Olaf's arrest. As a punishment, Olaf had to suffer every hardship that he forced upon the Baudelaire kids.

Violet, Klaus, and Sunny are taken to visit the charred remains of their old home one final time. A lost letter from their parents finally arrives, and inside is a spyglass announcing their family's secret society before they became orphans. Snicket finishes writing his documentation and hides the papers in the clock tower for his publisher to find. As Mr. Poe drives the Baudelaires to their next home, Snicket concludes that despite the siblings' recent unfortunate events, they have each other.

Cast

Daniel Handler, the writer of the Lemony Snicket stories, appears as a photographer.