The Lovely Bones (2010)

The Lovely Bones is a decent film with a reasonably well developed plot and a good cast. The highlight of the film, for me, is without a doubt Stanley Tucci, who is immensely transformed and powerfully disturbing as George Harvey, his performance was absolutely riveting, it is just a shame it could not have been for a film that deserved him. The movie tries too hard, it is throwing messages, metaphors and imagery at us left, right and center that it forgets that characters and realism captures an audience far more that impressive visual effects. There is so much going on at once that a lot of it becomes muffled. Several members of the cast misses the mark, speaking of, Mark Wahlberg is unconvincing in this film, it is not a part that was right for him, I never truly believed he missed his daughter and wanted redemption for her. Susan Sarandon plays Susan Sarandon so much that it took me out of the movie completely, she didn't fit the film's aesthetic and her character was brought in to the plot in such a forced manner that I could not help but feel a little cringe. Forgettable. While it had good intentions, The Lovely Bones pales in many areas and is certainly Peter Jackson's weakest movie, give this one a miss. A recently deceased young girl watches over her family as they grieve. Best Performance: Stanley Tucci / Worst Performance: Susan Sarandon

Worse than a waste of time. The main character (the dead girl) does something stupid no one with an IQ over 70 would do in real life, resulting in her murder. Most of the movie is Disney-esque sequences of an afterlife, with no plot. The actual plot takes place on earth, but it consists of almost nothing. We see a family grieve, fall apart, come back together, and the murder is solved...except it isn't. The murderer gets away, and we're supposed to believe justice was served when, as an old man, he dies in an accident. Meanwhile, if you have a brain, you realize he had continued his serial rape/murders until his untimely death. In other words, it's a movie about spending his entire life getting away with rape and murder of girls and women. Hello? .

The Lovely Bones is the right movie if you like fantasy, melancholy, and experiments, Jackson's work is a very fine balanced mix of fantasy, drama, and thriller: a dead girl must find her way to find peace and let go of the past, a family in despair trying to cope with the loss and trying to find the body of her missing daughter. And there is, of course, the question if the killer will get his punishment.Mr. Jackson, of course, knows his business and the cast (Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Susan Sarandon, and Stanley Tucci as the sicko) just plays fine and touching. Also, the scenes playing in the afterworld are fine crafted eye-candy.Some viewers seem to feel offended by the mixture of child-abuse and -killing and the redeeming part of the after-world scenes, I personally don't see it that way, for me, The Lovely Bones is poetry in motion pictures. If you like to watch touching and emotional movies, this is one for you, you will get the whole range of human emotions: sadness, loss, anger, despair, happiness, love. For the connoisseur of the unusual, The Lovely Bones is - lovely.

The Lovely Bones is the 2009 drama starring Saoirse Ronan as 14 year old Suzie who sadly passes away in the Winter of 1973 as she is murdered by her evil neighbour, played by Stanley Tucci as she watches over her family, friends and killer in Heaven. I love The Lovely Bones so much for so many reasons, I love how magical it is and so bright and happy, the film is so entertaining and the acting is incredible by Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci and Mark Whalberg, if that's how ya spell his name. At the moment, I'm actually reading the novel and I haft to say, I like the film more though! The Lovely Bones is a magical and beautifully constructed masterpiece!