Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The Lovely Bones

Movie name: The Lovely Bones
Year of release: 2009
Director: Peter Jackson
Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon, Rose McIver, Michael Imperioli, Reece Ritchie
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Thriller
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 6

Synopsis:After the huge undertaking of the great "King Kong", Peter Jackson decided to scale down and has come out with the adaptation of Alice Sebold's hugely successful novel "The Lovely Bones". The film follows the story of Susie Salmon, a beautiful young girl of 14 who lives with her family in an American suburb, circa 1973. Susie is lively and precocious and is finding young love. One day on her way home, one of her neighbors lures Susie to a trap where he murders her. Susie somehow finds herself in a limbo, afterlife, where she observes her family and the murderer who were all left behind. The Salmons try to deal with their loss the best way they can, but Susie's younger sister never gives up of finding the person directly responsible for the disappearance of her sister.
Peter Jackson is a gifted director, no matter what the material he tackles. Each of his films brim with the magic of love for film and "The Lovely Bones" is no exception. Jackson films the afterlife as a direct reflection of Susie's life and emotions. The special effects that are utilized are a means to express Susie's and her family's anger and disappointment. As always Jackson also brings great performances of actors, in this particular case from Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz (whose part is very underwritten). Though the film towards the end is a bit formulaic, this is a journey worth taking from a talented filmmaker.

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