The Lovely Bones is one of those books that just doesn't work as a movie. Voice-over is a tough tool to use well in a film (as Adaptation taught all of us), and when the work being adapted is so focused on a subjective narrator, it's hard to translate to the big screen. Where a book works with words, a movie should be able to use (mostly) images. In The Lovely Bones, Susie Salmon is an almost obnoxiously intrusive narrator, never allowing the characters she's describing to become rounded or anything more than objects she's observing. It's frustrating and drains the film of the assumedly inherent emotional weight, because we, as viewers, never get the chance to get to know the characters in a meaningful way.
The exception is, as you may expect, Susie, but even with her, we barely scratch the surface, as she spends most of her time wandering wide-eyed through pretty, but plastic-y scenery and watching scenes from Earth. Saoirse Ronan, so talented in Atonement, gives another strong performance, especially considering the often-clunky dialogue she's given. Though she's removed from the main events of the movie, she still serves as the emotional core, and Ronan handles the range well, even if it is limited by Susie's actual presence in the story.
The supporting cast is pretty tame. Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz, both immensely talented actresses, are reduced to one-dimensional versions of Alice Sebold's better-written characters. But luckily, Stanley Tucci is given (just) enough screen time to perfectly capture the creepiness of George Harvey. Between this role and that of Julia Child's husband in Julie & Julia, Stanley Tucci had a truly tremendous year, and all his accolades are well-deserved. His scenes with Ronan, in particular, are haunting and tense.
The actual story, however, is severely butchered from the book, which in some cases is a good thing, but overall, everything is left too lean to have any resonance. Ruth and Ray are barely featured, Buckley only has a few scenes, and the absence of Mrs. Salmon's affair with Len leaves him as a character who has almost no purpose, beyond providing a foil for Mr. Salmon's obsessiveness (this is a good time to note that Mark Wahlberg is, thankfully, much better here than in The Happening).
Instead of spending time on character development, Peter Jackson instead focuses on creating a dreamy "in-between" for Susie to frolic in. If you've seen the previews, you've seen all of the dreamscapes, and while they are creative and sometimes cleverly mirror the action unfolding on Earth, the special effects leave much to be desired. Some of the scenes look like they're taken from Super Mario Galaxy, while others look like they're made of plastic. Most of the interesting visuals are crammed into a single montage of Susie playing with her annoying friend Holly, while the others throughout the film all focus on the gazebo/lighthouse motif. It's tiring and repetitive.
Alice Sebold's novel walked a fine line between murder story, family drama, and odd fantasy, never swaying too far into the sentimental or weird, but Peter Jackson has made a film that swings back and forth into both realms, sometimes going right for the heart (and missing, mind you), and other times presenting images that don't make much sense at all, even within the film's conceit. It's a disappointing adaptation, but there are bright spots, if you can stomach all the muck surrounding them.
5/10
The exception is, as you may expect, Susie, but even with her, we barely scratch the surface, as she spends most of her time wandering wide-eyed through pretty, but plastic-y scenery and watching scenes from Earth. Saoirse Ronan, so talented in Atonement, gives another strong performance, especially considering the often-clunky dialogue she's given. Though she's removed from the main events of the movie, she still serves as the emotional core, and Ronan handles the range well, even if it is limited by Susie's actual presence in the story.
The supporting cast is pretty tame. Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz, both immensely talented actresses, are reduced to one-dimensional versions of Alice Sebold's better-written characters. But luckily, Stanley Tucci is given (just) enough screen time to perfectly capture the creepiness of George Harvey. Between this role and that of Julia Child's husband in Julie & Julia, Stanley Tucci had a truly tremendous year, and all his accolades are well-deserved. His scenes with Ronan, in particular, are haunting and tense.
The actual story, however, is severely butchered from the book, which in some cases is a good thing, but overall, everything is left too lean to have any resonance. Ruth and Ray are barely featured, Buckley only has a few scenes, and the absence of Mrs. Salmon's affair with Len leaves him as a character who has almost no purpose, beyond providing a foil for Mr. Salmon's obsessiveness (this is a good time to note that Mark Wahlberg is, thankfully, much better here than in The Happening).
Instead of spending time on character development, Peter Jackson instead focuses on creating a dreamy "in-between" for Susie to frolic in. If you've seen the previews, you've seen all of the dreamscapes, and while they are creative and sometimes cleverly mirror the action unfolding on Earth, the special effects leave much to be desired. Some of the scenes look like they're taken from Super Mario Galaxy, while others look like they're made of plastic. Most of the interesting visuals are crammed into a single montage of Susie playing with her annoying friend Holly, while the others throughout the film all focus on the gazebo/lighthouse motif. It's tiring and repetitive.
Alice Sebold's novel walked a fine line between murder story, family drama, and odd fantasy, never swaying too far into the sentimental or weird, but Peter Jackson has made a film that swings back and forth into both realms, sometimes going right for the heart (and missing, mind you), and other times presenting images that don't make much sense at all, even within the film's conceit. It's a disappointing adaptation, but there are bright spots, if you can stomach all the muck surrounding them.
5/10