The Lovely Bones Movie Review

Welcome to my first review in quite some time now, and for this one I have chosen to review the movie The Lovely Bones. This is the new film which is directed by Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings, King Kong, & Dead Alive). Critically this movie has managed to receive a bit of a poor run of the mill, however it is not entirely deserving of the critical bashing that it has received at this point.

The movie stars Saoirse Ronan (City of Ember, Atonement) as Susie Salmon who is the victim of a murder at the hands of George Harvey who is brilliantly portrayed by actor Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia
, The Tale of Despereaux). The performance provided by the two speaks wonders for the film itself.

The visuals in this movie are nothing short of absolutely outstanding, which is what one would come to expect from a director of such brilliance. The bad reviews seem eager to focus themselves around some of the movies weaker points, one of which I believe comes from the acting of Mark Wahlberg (Planet of the Apes, Boogie Nights) who always seems to do just enough with his acting to make his roles enjoyable, but never enough to come across as brilliant, and frankly the same can be said for his portrayal of Jack Salmon the father of young Susie in the movie.

I remember reading in the review that Roger Ebert provided for this movie in which he stated " "The Lovely Bones" is a deplorable film with this message: If you're a 14-year-old girl who has been brutally raped and murdered by a serial killer, you have a lot to look forward to. You can get together in heaven with the other teenage victims of the same killer, and gaze down in benevolence upon your family members as they mourn you and realize what a wonderful person you were. Sure, you miss your friends, but your fellow fatalities come dancing to greet you in a meadow of wildflowers, and how cool is that?"
This is a very deplorable depiction of this movie which was written by a man who I feel has lost his touch is recent years. Although Susie Salmon goes to a perfect world when she is murdered her soul is never truly at rest, and she knows the pain that her murder has left behind for those who loved her.

I agree that the movie is not perfect by any means, but to state it as being a deplorable movie is in my humble opinion a much further cry from the truth. "The Lovely Bones" will not turn any heads in the academy this year for nominations with the exception of the performance by Stanley Tucci, but this is also a movie that should not be overlooked either. With some well above average performances, some mind blowing visuals, and a storyline that is worth all the while I would say that "The Lovely Bones" is a movie that you should go and see.

My Rating: 75%