The Lovely Bones by Peter Jackson

I'm a person who loves going to the movies, sitting in those big red seats feels great! I hadn't seen a movie on a big screen in ages so this past weekend, I decided to go there and I picked Peter Jackson's latest movie: The Lovely Bones. The film came out in the US a few days ago and should be on the French screens around February.

Honestly, I still don't really know how I feel about it... I was both amazed and disappointed.

The movie is based on the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold telling the story of this young girl, Susie Salmon, that was raped and murdered on December 6^th 1973, when she was only 14 years old. After her death, she goes in this wonderful though horrific world she calls the “in-between”. From this world between Earth and Heaven she watches over her family and killer. She seems to be trapped in the “in-between” until she feels finally free to enter Heaven but for that, she has to weigh her desire for vengeance against her urge to see her family eventually heal.

I haven't read the book so I can't tell you if the adaptation is good or not. However, what I can say is that the reconstitution of the seventies looks amazing, it feels like you are really back then. Moreover, the cast is really good!

Mark Wahlberg is Jack Salmon, a dad sharing a special connection with his daughter and who is determined to find her killer.

The mother is played by Rachel Weisz. We can see that this woman is trying to cope with her daughter's death but it affects her relationship with the rest of the family.

Susan Sarandon is really good as an alcoholic grandmother who, oddly, ends up being the strength and consistency needed by the family at this painful moment.

The young Rose McIver is Lindsey Salmon, Susie's younger sister who is very curious and has suspicions. She believes her neighbor killed her sister, and she is right, but it is putting her in a very dangerous situation.

Stanley Tucci is unrecognizable as Mr. Harvey, the neighbor and killer. His behavior is obsessive and  we can tell by the way he builds perfect little dollhouses. When he catches Susie's eyes, she becomes her new obsession and he then creates a trap to kill her.

Finally, Saoirse Ronan, oscar-nominee for her interpretation of the role of Briony in Atonement in 2007 (French title: Reviens-moi), plays Susie, this little angel whose life was taken too early. She thought that life was beautiful and loved the visual aspect of it. She had just discovered her interest in photography and it is probably why her “in-between” is full of special effects trying to add suspense or just beauty to the story.

Unfortunately, I believe that Peter Jackson made a mistake by adding that many effects and that's what disappointed me. Some of them are fantastic, I have to admit, but others are very strange aesthetically speaking or even ugly. If the visual aspect was the only problem, I would not complain but, sadly, they are also useless. They don't help the spectator to understand the story or the characters better, they even disrupt the emotional bond we have built with them.

We all know what Peter Jackson is capable of, he showed that very well in his adaptation of The Lord of the Rings and that is why I expected more from this movie.


Lucie Grisey