The Lovely Bones is a decent drama with some flaws from writer/director Peter Jackson the man behind the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. Jackson is admirable in making this movie but some flaws which I'll get into later weigh it down. Saoirse Ronan is very convincing as Susie Salmon a young girl whose murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven or as one character puts it "Susie's in the in between." Ronan gains our sympathy making you care about the journey her character goes on in the film. Well done. Mark Wahlberg turns in a solid performance as Susie's father Jack who's desperately searching for the answers to his daughter's brutal murder. Wahlberg may not win any awards and despite not being given a whole lot to do, he's still effective as the character none the less. Rachel Weisz is good as usual as Susie's grieving mother Abigail who's trying to move on after her daughter's disappearance and apparent murder. Weisz had nice chemistry with Wahlberg in their scenes together which made the relationship between their characters believable. Stanley Tucci is exceptionally creepy as the killer George Harvey so much so that I was glad to see he eventually gets what's coming to him. Tucci is quite effective as the villain a sociopath and pedophile who keeps you on edge through the subtle things he does in his limited screen time. It's a hard role to tackle but Tucci manages to bring this psychotic serial killer to life. A villain you can really despise and hope that he pays the price for his terrible crimes before the conclusion. Susan Sarandon does the best she can as Grandma Lynn providing a little comic relief in her short amount of screen time. Sarandon despite not being given a whole lot to do like Wahlberg still turns in a decent performance as a tough grandmother who likes to drink. It may not be Oscar worthy material but she does what her roles requires. The rest of the cast are okay in their cameos and brief extended appearances. The special effects for the place in between where Susie is trapped are very good if you can get past the fact that they're obviously CG. Now that I've told you what I did like about this film I'll get into the flaws I thought could've been improved making the movie as a whole better. Some of the characters aren't developed that well, the dialog wasn't the greatest at times, the humor felt off occasionally, and the ending while not the best was fitting for the film I guess. If Jackson had improved on these flaws I probably would've enjoyed it more than I did but it was still a decent movie overall. If you're looking for something different than The Lovely Bones will fit that bill. With it's flaws aside, The Lovely Bones has an interesting story, some character development, a little humor, and impressive performances by the cast (Wahlberg, Weisz, Ronan, and especially Tucci) who make this film worth watching at least once.
Review of The Lovely Bones
