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Title: The Lovely Bones
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| CONSUMER ADVICE |
Parents,there are very mature themes, language, and nudity in this film . Recommended for ages 18 and up. |
Alice Sebold’s “The Lovely Bones” became one of those rare best selling books that gained popularity through word-of-mouth instead of through Oprah or the movie adaptation. Peter Jackson’s film version of this personal favorite book of mine is not without flaws, but it’s still a visually stunning roller coaster, with an excellent cast of actors doing what they do best and a story that is interesting and never boring. Fans of the book will know that the story revolves around Suzie Samoan (Academy Award-nominee Saoirse Ronan), who is just like any other 14-year old girl.
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She takes pictures, has a crush on a boy, and is generally happy. Then one day she is raped and killed by her neighbor (Stanley Tucci in a haunting performance). This may sound like a strange protagonist to feature in a major motion picture, but we follow Suzie into death. She does not go to Heaven however due to the fact she wants to see her murderer brought to justice, therefor she just sort of lingers in the ‘In Between’, a personal world to her that becomes either visually beautiful or graphically desolate in accordance to her feelings. Think of it as a supernatural mood ring.
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Despite Jackson making use of his WETA special effects in these moments, the more interesting parts of the film are in the common real world, where Suzie’s father (Academy Award-nominee Mark Wahlberg) and mother (Academy Award-winner Rachel Weisz) are having difficultly coping. The mother just wants to move on but can’t, and the father becomes obsessed with catching his daughters killer. In terms of movie making “The Lovely Bones” has a lot to like about it. I’ve highlighted most of it, but there are a couple of strange choices that hinder this film from being better. The first issue I have is that while it’s obvious Suzie is killed, the movie only vaguely hints that she was raped.
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This was likely done in order to secure the mass-market friendly PG-13 rating that studios covet, but the murder lacks the extra punch it had in the novel. Secondly when Susan Sarandon comes into the film she’s so goofy and funny, feels so out of place, that she almost derails the movie in a single five minute montage that is nothing short of incompetent film making. Some people will likely blame Jackson for these touches, but I’m more willing to blame the studios. Jackson and the book may have been enough to get the film green-lit, but no studio is going to commit over $60 million dollars to the budget unless it’s an easy sell.
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Likewise I’m sure many fans of the source material will be appalled that a movie adaptation was made at all. I’m not into the habit of comparing books to movies, and I only bring these points up because in the movie itself they are particularly bothersome. There’s a whole lot of smaller changes I’m not mentioning because movies fans won’t notice the changes and they aren’t severe enough to hurt the film. And even though the movie has two very big flaws it’s never boring, and it’s still one of the most original stories in theaters right now. Movies like these may not be perfect, but at the very least they show that big budget special effect films don’t have to be fantasy or science fiction to work in big ways.
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