This interesting movie based from Alice Sebold’s popular novel focuses on a suburban family dealing with the loss of their oldest daughter, 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) who was raped and murdered by a neighbour. In the other part of the film, the focus frequently reverts to Susie situated between heaven and earth where she resides to narrate her story. While trapped “in-between” she observes the reactions of her parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz), her sister (Rose McIver), and her killer Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci) as she continuously contemplates how to gain closure and depart to Heaven calmly.
Peter Jackson’s adaptation turns a tale of murder and grief into one of consolation, forgiveness and closure. However he failed to connect the crucial part of the film between Susie and her grieving family leaving point of views underdeveloped and limiting the dramatic effect of the sequences. At one moment, we are taken to Susie’s afterlife filled with ’70s teen life and pop culture then before the moment lingers long enough to be swallowed the film reverts back to the grief-stricken family. The scenes continually revert back and forth depicting the loss of connection between Susie’s actions to her family’s reactions.
Since the main focus of the film is Susie’s story, anything not related to her is not given emphasis even though it adds up greatly to the film’s impact. One such scene is when the mother decides to head out to California unable to bear any longer the effect of her eldest daughter’s death. “The Lovely Bones” simply tell what happened but failed to show how this could impact the two other children left behind. The narration tells a different story from what is portrayed in the scene. Jackson has failed to establish this crucial connection.
However the cast has made up for this major flaw with impressive performances from the lead and the villain. Young Irish actress Ronan with her striking features and expressive eyes make a memorable Susie but she is limited to when her character was alive. Once Susie dies in the film her portrayal dies as well. What I love most about her is the sad tone in which she delivers her narration. Simply listening to her story and the emotions seeping through it is enough to feel her loss and pain.
Another remarkable performance is that of Stanley Tucci who plays Mr. Harvey. He manages to emit genteel evil that slowly progresses towards the film until he reaches a point where he can no longer hold the desire to kill once more. With a soft voice and a fooling smile, he’s what parents had feared would hurt their children. However from the beginning they never even knew that they were warning their children about a villain hiding in the mask of the nice neighbour down the street. This is Tucci’s most sensational performance to date.
“The Lovely Bones” never fails in the thriller department as it provides heart-stopping moments with Susie’s younger sister Lindsay doing detective work at the home turf of the enemy
