When
I go to see a movie, I almost always walk out knowing exactly how I
feel about it. There are very few exceptions to this, such as The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.
I walked out of that one confused and unsure of my feelings, which was
caused largely by the off-kilter storyline and the extremely lofty
imagination sequences. And now there is a second movie to add onto the
list. The Lovely Bones did not muddle my thoughts and
opinions by the story and characters itself, but more by the way it was
directorially presented by Peter Jackson.
The Lovely Bones
is a story that follows the life, and afterlife, of 14 year-old Susie
Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) and how her friends and family cope with their
loss of her. One night while walking home from school, Susie's creepy
neighbor George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) lures her into a trap that will
cost Susie her life. After being brutally murdered by Harvey, her soul
gets sent to the "in-between", a place located at the crossroads of
heaven and earth. With the chance to move on to heaven and forget her
past, Susie must choose between letting go and seeking revenge against
the horrible wrong done to her.
Visually, it is a very interesting movie. I am perhaps not so daunted by the dream-life visuals after seeing Parnassus,
but most of the "in-between" scenes are intriguing and visually
pleasing. Every now and then, Jackson makes strange choices in what he
wants this place to look like, but it was not enough to throw off the
balance of the piece altogether. The acting in this movie was wonderful
and believable. Tucci created a villain that you wanted to kill
yourself, but his sinister aura kept you at bay. Mark Wahlberg and
Rachel Weisz play grieving parents poignantly. The emotions they had to
bring out for this film must have been tiring, but when you see it on
the screen, it was well worth the effort. Ronan, although she is young
and fairly new to Hollywood, understands that her character is not just
a simple teenager. Her narration throughout the movie is insightful and
intriguing. She portrays how a 14 year old would more than likely think
about murder, even if it is in the afterlife.
Now,
you must be wondering what exactly confused me about this movie. The
core issue with this film is the way Peter Jackson handled it. While
the story is beautiful and sad, every few scenes a certain angle of the
camera or a sentence said will cause you to come out of the moment and
begin to question the story. Jackson could have easily fixed this with
simple editing (or even more drastically the studio heads could have
picked a different director). This film leaves you wondering whether or
not it was true or real, and that breaks a very important rule in
movie-going.
The
film is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing
violent content and images, and some language. It is intense at some
points when the murder sequences happen throughout the movie, but
anyone over the age of thirteen will see this movie as a warning to
watch out for strangers and even neighbors. I would recommend this to
anyone who has read the novel, but tread lightly; books that are turned
into movies rarely meet the standards of a reader.
I give The Lovely Bones three
and a half out of five red flowers. Yes this movie is interesting and
heard wrenching at points, but Jackson manages to take the audience out
of that moment time and time again.
In theaters 01:15:10
