Newly orphaned, the Baudelaire children; Violet, Klaus and baby Sunny
spend the movie being bounced from foster home to foster home, their
footsteps being dogged by the comically diabolical Count Olaf, a distant
relative who stands to inherit their family fortune.

The children each possess talents necessary to keep the Count at bay
(and keeps the plot ticking along nicely, thank you), Violet is a
brilliant and resourceful inventor, Klaus is a bookworm whose
sponge-like mind absorbs arcane bits of knowledge, while Sunny is the
owner of a set of impressively sharp teeth.

It is always a risk to bring to life much beloved characters from a work
of fiction, but screenwriter Robert Gordon and director Brad Silberling
have done an admirable job of remaining faithful to author Daniel
Handler's wonderfully gothic world, while at the same time injecting wit
and character of their own. Carrey does a nice job in a multitude of
roles (In Olaf's various disguises), though his trademark hammy delivery
comes through a bit too much at times.

The movie was a fun romp, while not likely to rival the Harry Potter
franchise for kid's literature-cum-movie anytime soon.