The Lovely Bones comes from the best-selling novel by Alice Sebold and it is a perfect film for Peter Jackson to direct. The film deals with reality and fantasy, and love, death, revenge and the process of healing. The film changes tones quite a bit and it can be distracting, but Jackson is able to tie it all together and throws some foreshadowing in there as well. The Lovely Bones was able to have a great source to work with and the cast could not be any better.
The story is about and narrated by Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) who was raped and murdered in 1973. She is stuck between Heaven and Earth (aka The In-Between) and she looks from above at her family who is trying to deal with her murder and find out who did this to their daughter, and watching her murderer walk around as a free man.
Susie battles between getting revenge and wanting the life he stole from her back with moving on to a greater place and her family finding peace. Her father (Mark Wahlberg) almost becomes a detective and starts trying to put the pieces together of what really happened to his daughter on her way home from school. Susie’s mother (Rachel Weisz) misses her daughter and once she finds out she is gone, she tries to store the pain up inside. And Susie’s sister (Rose McIver) becomes the first one to notice their neighbor Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci) and starts to become suspicious of him.
Like I said before, every one does a nice job in this film. Wahlberg is great as the father who wants justice and Weisz portrays a mother who almost wants to forget what happened because it is too overwhelming for her. Susan Sarandon plays Susie’s grandmother and her performance is nice but it is mainly for comic relief. And Ronan is one great young actress. She was amazing in Atonement and she shines in this. However, it is Stanley Tucci who portrays a complex and hauntingly evil man who murdered a child.
Tucci has had a lot of good roles lately in movies like The Devil Wears Prada, The Terminal, and Julie and Julia. But never have you seen him like this. Mr. Harvey appears to be a friendly neighbor who just happens to live by himself. He blends in with his surroundings and does not stand out in Susie’s neighborhood. Even in the opening scenes, he is walking by and standing around but you may not notice him. And that is exactly what Mr. Harvey is best at: not being noticed by anyone.
Tucci had to play a man who seemed generous on the outside and rotten on the inside, and he plays both sides very well. For most of the film, Mr. Harvey seems in control but when he breaks loose, he really goes wild. And this character is not likable at all, but Tucci is not afraid to approach a territory of darkness and creepiness. His performance is definitely a stand-out and could very well be nominated for Best Supporting Actor at this year’s Oscars.
Jackson has the talent and technology to create a film like this. There is a lot of CGI when Susie is between Heaven and Earth, and I’m guessing it is a 14 year-old girl’s version of Heaven, and the scenery is amazing to look at. Yet I am not quite sure if all of it was necessary. There were times that I found myself more interested in what her family was doing and if her killer would ever be caught than what Susie was doing up there on her fantasy island. And there are times where the film turns in to a supernatural movie, and in one scene Susie takes over another girl’s body and it completely throws you off guard.
In the end, Jackson does show control over the story and balances Susie’s scenes in Heaven with everyone else’s scenes back on Earth. The real story and drama of The Lovely Bones focuses on Susie before she dies and how her family responds to her death, and how her murderer goes on with his life and if or when he will strike again.
Ronan and Tucci give the best performances in the film, and Jackson focuses on the crime, but uses his imagination to create a different world for Susie and perhaps it gets a little out of hand at times. The Lovely Bones has some flaws, but it is a thrilling film about a devastating event that would change anyone’s life if they were in the same situation.
Jackson shares the pain with the audience without ever resulting to showing the crime itself. This was a tasteful act on Jackson’s part. It is a tough thing to put on film and he could have pushed the boundaries a little more, but would it have made a huge difference? I doubt it. He played this one safe and that is not always a bad thing.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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