The Lovely Bones

Released: 2009
MPAA rating: PG-13
Run time: 2:15

"The Lovely Bones" held some real deep meaning for me as the film deals with the death of a child and the family's difficulty in dealing with it.  Added to that is the wrinkle that we get to also see that child trying to come to terms with suddenly finding herself in the afterlife.  This is a very creative film that runs from wondrous to creepy and often both at the same time.  Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is a 14-year old girl with her whole life ahead of her:  discovering romance and on the verge of true happiness.   As these things go, both in reality and fiction, she takes a detour through the cornfield on her way home from school and finds herself talking to her neighbor, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), the last conversation in the world she will ever have.  At this point of the film, the story splits into two very different films.  We follow Susie as she learns what the afterlife is, but fights to stay close to this world until her killer is found.  The other story we follow is how her family struggles with her loss.  Her father (Mark Wahlberg) finds himself obsessed with breaking the case and finding her killer.  Her mother (Rachel Weisz) shuts down pretty completely, closing off Susie's room and leaving the care of her other children mostly up to her mother (Susan Sarandon), a smoking, drinking, somewhat irritating woman.  These two stories intermingle at times as Susie is trying to help her father to look in the right direction.  On the afterlife side, we have a dreamworld that is mostly beautiful and wondrous, but not enticing enough for Susie until her life's unfinished business is taken care of.  Stanley Tucci is getting a lot of award-season heat for his portrayal as the creepy, calculating serial killer.  While he is very good and worthy of the attention, I was very impressed with Saoirse Ronan, who puts this film on her shoulders and carries it perfectly.  The movie runs a little long and toward the end there is one sequence that just drags on and on in an attempt to create tension.  Directed by "Lord of the Rings" helmer Peter Jackson, I should not be surprised as he is a great filmmaker, but tends to make films that are longer than they need to be ("King Kong" any one?).  I really liked this film. It was very dark at times and deeply emotional, while still being very entertaining.  It just misses being a truly great film, but not by much.

Grade: A-

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