Reviewed by: Adam Mast.
Simply put, The Lovely Bones was one of the most disappointing films of 2009. Not unwatchable. Just disappointing. Based on the novel by Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones was directed by the gifted Peter Jackson who, just last summer, had a hand in Neill Blomkamp’s District 9. The Lovely Bones is a ghost story of sorts and tells the tale of a young girl (played by Saoirse Ronan) who, after being brutally raped and murdered, observes the lives of those she knew from a state of limbo somewhere between life and death. Among those she keeps an eye on are her parents (who she inadvertently influences) and the killer himself (played by a creepy Stanley Tucci). The Lovely Bones is a congested fusion of various tones (including fantasy, comedy, drama, and mystery) that never really come together. Strange, because Jackson perfectly juggled these same tones in the outstanding Heavenly Creatures over fifteen years ago. Jackson’s vision of the in-between plane of existence where young Susie Salmon resides is interesting, but it’s ultimately a distraction in the grand scheme of things, and it isn’t quite as awe inspiring as the afterlife in Vincent Ward’s underappreciated What Dreams May Come.
Jackson tries hard here and some sequences do payoff. Watch for a tense sequence in which Susie’s sister breaks into the murderer’s house looking for a clue that will bring a horrific case to justice. But these moments are few and far between and they’re buried between odd moments that don’t work at all (the ending, in particular, is a sorely out of place moment plucked directly from Ghost). Tucci and Ronan are outstanding but Rachel Weisz is underused and Mark Wahlberg (filling in for a departing Ryan Gosling) is miscast. I haven’t read the book on which this film is based, but I don’t need to read it to know that something got lost in translation. The Lovely Bones might be one of those properties that would have been best left a novel. I still adore Peter Jackson, but this was a disappointment.
More Adam Mast at Zboneman.com.
