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MOVIE REVIEW
The Lovely Bones
Here, There, But Exactly Where? A Lovely Mess That
Works
Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon in
"The Lovely Bones", directed by Peter Jackson. The film opened across the
U.S. and Canada today.
Paramount Pictures
By Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com
Friday, January 15, 2010
Peter Jackson bravely returns to a non-epic film (but with
epic length) with "The Lovely Bones", opening in theaters across the country
today after being pulled from its Christmas 2009 release by Paramount Pictures.
Mr. Jackson's film is based on the famous best-selling book by Alice Sebold,
which this reviewer hasn't read.
It is Connecticut, early 1970s (or later) and Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan)
recalls the days of her life leading up to her disappearance and subsequent
murder. She repeatedly revisits the scene of her last moments like a
tortured angel, trying to put the pieces of a mysterious puzzle together for the
audience. Her parents Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and Abigail (Rachel Weisz)
mostly ignore or neglect her, and restrict the number of rolls of Kodak film
Susie can develop at a time. It's essentially a joyless existence for
Susie, who's experiencing adolescence. There are numerous suspects to
consider in Susie's demise, but it appears that only one person can solve her
murder.
While "The Lovely Bones" suffers from an over-stylizing that paralyzes its
narrative, considering Mr. Jackson's landscapes from the "Rings" trilogy, it
actually works as an atmospheric endeavor. The sights of purgatory, of an
Eden-like existence and a hellish tomb contained in the basement of one prime
suspect are all compelling though occasionally exhaustive. Still, as an
ethereal mystery thriller filled with haunting and sometimes jarring imagery,
Mr. Jackson's film achieves a difficult goal: telling a largely unappealing
story through the eyes of a young girl who has been dead for the entire film.
(Within the first moments of the film you know that Susie, like William Holden's
character in "Sunset Boulevard", is as dead as a doornail, so there's no spoiler
here.)
Susie has the pulse of every detail of her life on tap, and her character mixes
an idealism and astuteness that is mature, for sure. While "The Lovely
Bones" isn't especially entertaining, Saoirse Ronan ("Atonement") is effective
and disturbing as Susie, as her translucent skin allows us to seemingly watch
every sinew of her anguished body writhe in pain and despair.
Mr. Jackson's film, if anything, is guilty of being 30 minutes too long and
miscast. Mr. Wahlberg and Oscar winner Rachel Weisz don't belong at all.
Both are disappointing here and convey neither chemistry nor conviction.
Susan Sarandon is a breath of fresh air as Susie's grandmother, but even she is
miscast.
Mr. Jackson does his best Alfred Hitchcock impression in one scene, but many
audiences will find that "The Lovely Bones" is overwrought and stuffed with
visual effects. True, but I appreciated the film's intentions and good
faith. As a teenage story it works as adolescent agony. All told,
"The Lovely Bones" is good but far from great. An acquired taste, but one
that audiences may well latch on to a few years down the road.
With: Rose McIver, Michael Imperioli, Reece Ritchie, Stanley Tucci, Amanda
Michalka, Carolyn Dando.
"The Lovely Bones"
is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture
Association Of America for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent
content and images, and some language. The film's
running time is two hours and 15 minutes.
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