The Lovely Bones
When Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), an innocent young teen girl, is abducted and killed by a well camouflaged serial killer named George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), the rest of her family is strained and stressed to new levels as they deal with the unsolved mystery and loss of a child. Now watching earth from heaven, Susie learns how her unrest motivates the living to make choices, sometimes good and sometimes bad. With this knowledge the new question becomes what is more important, vindication for her death, or the healing of her family? And then, what about her high school heartthrob? Heavily steeped in computer generated graphics, director Peter Jackson continues on his streak of adaptations. And, as far as adaptations go, the source material provides some lofty expectations in the visual department– specifically since half of the film takes place in heaven. Unfortunately, in this go round Jackson comes up short with material that seems more appropriate for a made for TV movie. In the acting department, Susan Sarandon stands out nicely in her believable comedic role as the grandmother, Tucci taps into his creepy side just right for his role, and big things seem evident for Saoirse Ronan after this film. Somewhat flat performances from Rachel Wiesz and Mark Wahlberg do little to help the film though. Insult to injury, the overall script lacks real depth to give the audience a reason to care about any of the characters and the overuse of narration seems to cheapen the feel of the production further. Probably best enjoyed as a rental if you plan to see it at all. The Lovely Bones is rated PG-13