Warning: Not really any detailed spoilers, but please read entire review before reacting. In the way this review starts out, someone may jump to conclusions WAY too quickly.
I have read how some critics have been saying that Jim clowns, tries to "steal" scenes, and he is over the top at times in this film.
Well, I just got back from seeing the film and I think what they are saying may make sense when they talk about how he clowns and is overly dramatic. Don't throw the stones at me yet!! Hear me out! This is a good review I am writing here!
I think Jim was fabulous in this film! I think he got the character of Count Olaf down to a tee. So you are probably wondering why I would understand what the critics have been saying...Well....
Think about it. If you have read the books, which I have, you all know that Count Olaf is overly dramatic, is an scene stealing actor with a theater troupe, and Olaf is known for being a bad actor, though he does try to be a good one. Well, Jim did just that. He nailed the character of Count Olaf just right.
Yes, Jim was over-dramatic at times. Well, he is playing the character of Olaf, who
would be over dramatic, riiiiight? So I stick my tounge out at those critics who said that Jim's performance was over-dramatic.
Jim's character was
supposed to be that way! Obviously some of these so called critics did not finish their research for reviewing this movie. If any of them had taken the time to read the books the movie was based on instead of just taking the short cut and watching the film, they would know that Jim's character is
supposed to be over-dramatic,
supposed to try and steal attention, and is
supposed to play at being a bad actor.
In essense, this makes Jim a
wonderful actor because he got down the character of Olaf just right.
I hope what I am saying makes sense here. LOL
As for rest of the cast, Meryl Streep was so funny and fabulous, and Sunny had some one liners that I simply loved.
The costumes, scenery, and lines were right up my alley.
The only thing that I found distracting was that some of the order of events were not there or in the right order. But if I had not read the books first, I would have never noticed that anything was out of place.
Some critics have also given the movie a hard time because they say there is "scary" stuff in the film. Okaaaayyy...Maybe I am just too old to be scared of this movie, but I do not believe that there was any scary stuff at all. Sure, Count Olaf kills some people and tries to kill the orphans. But when someone did die, notice how they never showed the dead bodies and noice how they never showed the murder actually happen? I think they handled that very well. So once again, I stick my tounge out at those critics.
Overall, I give this film an A+, five stars, two thumbs up, or whatever you want to call it. I think it was wonderful and very well done.
Of course, I give Jim the highest grade possible because I think he nailed his character down perfect.
The People's Critic,
Marissa