Movie Review - 'The Lovely Bones'

The Lovely Bones Starring Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, and Stanly Tucci Directed by Peter Jackson Rated PG-13

The Lovely Bones is a grand, grandiose failure. Peter Jackson has taken the popular bestseller by Alice Sebold, dressed it up in a dreamscape, and presents it as one very pretty but emotionally empty package. Where did it go wrong? It's hard to pinpoint one thing specifically. Rather, it's more accurate (but admittedly no more satisfying) to say that very few elements of the production stick with you in a good way, and many of them, from performances to the music, have no impact at all. There is also the very real consideration that sometimes movies just don't work as well as their parts. This is the second time in a month that a prohibitive awards favorite has sunk on screen. Nine assembled the best cast of the year, had strong source material, a director that knows the ropes of the musical genre, and outside of 15 - 20 minutes, the film is curiously catatonic. It is worse in this case because those 15 minutes are even harder to spot. The Lovely Bones finds no benefit from Jackson's direction, which history might one day define as overwrought. There's very little advantage gained by having Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon in the cast, leaving most of the work on the shoulders of Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, and young Saoirse Ronan. It's no mystery what happens in The Lovely Bones, and if you've so much as seen a commercial for the film, you know the score. However, it's hard to analyze the film without going into some detail about the plot, so consider this your spoiler alert. From beyond the grave, Susie Salmon (Ronan) tells us the story of her murder, her killer, and her family, ripped apart by her disappearance and death, and the lack of closure that would come from finding the responsible party. Still only a teenager, Salmon vanishes late one afternoon in the 1970s, before, as she says, kids wound up on the back of milk cartons. Within a couple of days, her parents (Wahlberg and Weisz) know their daughter is gone forever, but how can someone in the suburbs get away with a murder so heinous so cleanly? Jack Salmon begins his own kind of investigation, spiraling further and further down into his compulsion while his wife Abigail just shuts down. The police have no answers and, unfortunately, neither does Jack. As the prototypical stranger from whom you don't take candy, Stanley Tucci gives a credible, nasty performance. He's almost always good, even in very light duty, but he's the right kind of creepy for The Lovely Bones, or perhaps what The Lovely Bones should be. Jackson gives too much emphasis on the supernatural side of the story, that Susie is trapped in limbo and can't completely move on spiritually until her murder is solved. It is an important part of the book, and you could make the case that it's what sets The Lovely Bones apart from a blue collar murder mystery along the lines of Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone. But while the visuals Jackson creates for Susie's limbo are sometimes otherworldly, they don't invite any connection to the real story, which is the effect her death has on those she leaves behind. It wouldn't be as creative, but a story narrated by Susie Salmon might have served the rest of the film and its characters better than one in which she is also on screen, and on screen in such a manifestly different way. Wahlberg is another misfire, and it's one that was possibly out of the director's control to a certain extent. Ryan Gosling was originally cast and left the production abruptly, forcing Jackson to hire another actor before too much time was lost. Wahlberg does some things very well; depth and grief aren't among them. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, in Rose McIver's performance as Susie's forgotten sister, Lindsey. She becomes more instrumental as the film progresses and her energy is the only thing that really captures our attention in the last half of the movie.

Comments

[Vince]

I'm still very much interested in this film, but I keep hearing that it's hard to say what exactly is so wrong with this movie. I guess it just fails to make a lasting impression on the audience, which is a damn shame, considering the pedigree on display here.

One good thing (at least for me) that might come from this, even though only Sunday will truly tell how this will play out, is that if this movie is DOA, the only real push will be for Stanley Tucci as Best Supporting Actor, and if I remember correctly, he was one of the frontrunners. If he's the good thing in a bad film, it's less likely that he'll be recognized for his work. Which gives me hope that Cristoph Waltz will take home that bald, golden statue come a few months from now.

[quin browne]

i bought this book the day it was released... they'd just unpacked it and i thought it sounded wonderful... and it was. (sadly, her other book of fiction sucked rocks)

i've waited for this, wondering where they'd go with it... i won't watch it until it's out on hbo.

*sad little sigh*

[mdamien13]

I didn't really care for the book all that much (man, that ending.... wow) so I was on the fence about whether or not to see this but it hasn't been getting very good reviews so far. It seems like Peter Jackson may have peaked w/ the LOTR trilogy, since King Kong was another overdone movie that was a whole lot of nothing.

And I'll admit it; I can't watch a movie w/ Mark Whalberg anymore without thinking of him talking to a goat. Doesn't matter how serious or tense the situation is on screen I'll still be stifling laughter.

[Lisa]

Well, I think Ryan Gosling would have been worse - I don't know how old he is but the father of a 14 year old? I don't think so. I thought this was a deeply sad but touching book - it should have had the tone of Mystic River and Gone baby Gone.

[Karl]

I felt like I was hit with a tranquilizer dart while watching this film.
Peter Jackson missed the mark big time. The whole thing felt like it was in
slow motion. No suspence. I agree with this review in that way too much time
was spent in the limbo world of the girl. Truly a disappointment .