Movie Review: The Lovely Bones

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   Peter Jackson (“Lord of the Rings” trilogy) adapts the Alice Sebold novel, The Lovely Bones for the screen, but while beautiful, Jackson misses the mark of the original text. The Lovely Bones is the tale of fourteen year old Susie Salmon, who is raped, murdered and stuck in the “in-between” before she ever receives her first kiss. Ms. Sebold’s novel is a searing tale of said fourteen year-old, and is both terrifying and beautifully poignant. Peter Jackson knocks it out of the park with his stunning visual effects on the in-between, and the acting in the movie is solid. Young actress Saoirse Ronan plays Susie Salmon, Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz, her parents; Stanley Tuccci is George Harvey, Susie’s neighbor and murderer. Both Wahlberg and Weitz are solid, each grieving in their own way, and the movie’s heavy subject matter is tempered with humor by the role of Susan Sarandon as the off-kilter, boozing yet loveable grandmother who moves in to help stabilize the home; yet, something fills remiss in laughing in this film. For those who never read the novel, they will sense something is missing; for those who did read Sebold’s work, the missing parts will be frustrating. The rape is inferred, but never shown, the murder is glossed over, and Jackson spends a great deal of his time and effort on the in-between, losing the book’s original equal emphasis on the human relationships that remain, here on Earth. The Lovely Bones garnered a PG-13 rating, and perhaps this was Jackson’s boundary on what he would show concerning the grotesque nature of this sort of story. Saoirse Ronan is a young actress filled with promise; she carries the entire movie. And last, but not least, is the terrifying Mr. Harvey. Stanley Tucci is unnervingly frightening as this creeper next door, this psychopath across the fence. Jackson shows his true brilliance behind the camera with Tucci’s character. The use of a distorted lens and extreme close-ups of Tucci’s overly intense eyes make viewers squirm in their seats. He is terrifying, and in the most calm way. If for no other reason beyond witnessing the visual effects of the in-between and Tucci’s role as the murderer, it is worth watching. Disturbing, yes; lacking in depth of characters, yes; but a bad movie, it is not.