THE LOVELY BONES REVIEW

THE LOVELY BONES
Director: Peter Jackson
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg
Screenplay: Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens
Running time: 135 min
Rating: M
****/*****

THERE MAY BE A FEW BONES TO PICK, BUT THERE IS STILL A LOT

OF LOVELY EVIDENT

Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's best selling novel is deeply flawed. It is also deeply haunting, deeply moving and one of the most unforgettable film experiences of this or any other year.

Fourteen year old Susie Salmon watches over her family from the afterlife as they attempt to piece their lives back together after her brutal murder. But even in death Susie is still haunted by what has happened and becomes consumed with bringing the perpetrator to justice.

The subject matter is tough to say the least, but Jackson handles the material beautifully. Young Susie's rape and murder is never gratuitous, in fact very little of the crime is actually seen as Jackson opts to employ the use of haunting symbolism rather than brutal realism to imply what has happened. In turn Jackson's powerful imagery hits more disturbingly close to home than one could possibly imagine.

Jackson is the master of imagery and the film is glorious to look at. For a movie with such a dark subject matter, it may be surprising to learn that The Lovely Bones is steeped in vibrant colour. Both in life and death Jackson creates visually interesting worlds for Susie to inhabit, both in an authentic recreation of 70's suburbia in both look and feel and a heavenly universe rife with symbolism and magnificent imagery. This being so the scenes featuring Susie in the afterlife, whilst visually stunning, serve to derail the pace of the film.

The Lovely Bones gets off to an excellent start. We are introduced to Susie and grow instantly attached. She is smart, witty and endearingly naive, everything a likable heroin should be which makes the knowledge of her impending doom even harder to digest. The film is a unique mixture of light and dark moments. Jackson lolls us into a false sense of comfort after we view a comical encounter with Susie and her Grandmother about the joy of first kisses, we are then brought sharply back to reality with Susie's narration reminding us that she will soon meet her demise at the hands of the terrifyingly creepy Mr Harvey, the quiet but psychologically disturbed neighbour from across the road.

The film starts of light but soon turns into a tense, gritty thriller as the quest to discover what has happened to Susie begins. The scenes of Susie in the afterlife tend to derail the growing momentum of the investigation, as do some poorly executed sub plots. Susie's infatuation with Ray, a boy from school with which she has had but a few encounters, feels rather off note as she seems to spend more time moping for him in the afterlife than for her family. Susie's otherworldly contact with outcast Ruth also turns out to be highly frustrating as it builds expectation but accomplishes nothing in the way of bringing Susie's murderer to justice.

One of the biggest faults in The Lovely Bones is poor character development, with Susie's parents suffering most. Their relationship seems false and their initial reaction to her death feels rather hastily passed over. The disintegration of their marriage barely registers in the film and we never really get a grip on who they are as characters, making it almost impossible to understand many of their actions, in particular Abigail's. The usually brilliant Rachel Weisz appears to be a blank canvas and doesn't seem to be fully present within her role. Mark Wahlberg fares a little better as the father obsessed with finding Susie's killer, but the holes within his character and thus performance are glaringly apparent. Whilst Rose McIver turns in a solid performance as Susie's younger sister Lindsay, the murder of her sibling appears to have no emotional effect on her character at all. Susan Sarandan in the role of Susie's unconventional, alcoholic Grandmother does well with the little she is given as some brief but pointless comic relief but Michael Imperioli fails to rise above his stereotypical, one note homicide detective.

The two lead characters however manage to escape the fate of the supporting cast. Susie is possibly the most well rounded character in the film and Saoirse Ronan is brilliant in the role. One of the most talented actresses working today her work deserves to be recognised by the Academy as she manages to outshine the majority of performances we've seen this year. The real show stealer however is masterclass character actor Stanley Tucci as the deranged serial killer Mr Harvey. Tucci's performance is so sinister and disturbing that it will haunt you for some time to come. It would be an absolute crime for Tucci to miss out on at least an Oscar nomination for his work as really he deserves to win.

Despite it's faults The Lovely Bones still makes for one of the most original and compelling film experiences of the year. Completely haunting in every way, it is a great film that could or should have been magnificent. FOUR OUT OF FIVE STARS