The Lovely Bones: movie review
Peter Jackson is globally known for directing the 鈥�Lord of the Rings鈥� trilogy and 鈥�King Kong,鈥� but before he became so lucratively enmeshed in CGI effects he was admired for the true-life murder movie 鈥淗eavenly Creatures鈥� and, before that, 鈥淒ead Alive,鈥� the ickiest zombie flick ever made. In taking on 鈥�The Lovely Bones,鈥� set in 1973 and based on Alice Sebold鈥檚 bestseller about a murdered girl who in her afterlife gazes down on her grieving family and her uncaught killer, the hope was that Jackson would get back to basics. But he鈥檚 gone the other way. Instead of fashioning a realistic framework for this fantasia, he鈥檚 gone hog-wild for special effects whenever the girl, Susie (Saoirse Ronan, the gifted sprite from 鈥�Atonement鈥�), is around. Whether she鈥檚 coursing through candy-colored landscapes or perched before billowing clouds, she seems ethereal to the point of parody. The family domestic scenes 鈥� Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz play Susie鈥檚 parents, Rose McIver and 海角大神 Ashdale play her siblings 鈥� are, alas, as earthbound as Susie鈥檚 are highfalutin. As the murderer, Stanley Tucci is intensely creepy but, like almost everybody else in this movie, he鈥檚 more gothic figment than flesh and blood. The exception is Susan Sarandon as Susie鈥檚 boozy, blunt grandmother, a woman with so much spritz she could raise the dead 鈥� a talent that would have come in handy here. Grade: C
