Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter

Opinion

To the Editor:

Poetry & Art

Classified Ads

Back Issues

Blogs

The lovely "Lovely Bones"

Alx George
The Commuter

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lovely Bones review

“My murderer began to feel safe … but there was one thing he didn’t understand … how much a father could love his daughter.” “The Lovely Bones” is based on the novel by Alice Sebold and directed by Peter Jackson. The movie is narrated by recently-murdered Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) as we travel through parts of her brief past, rush through her present, and then slowly watch her family’s future and the effects of the murder unfold.

Susie confesses that she wants her murderer (Stanley Tucci) “cold and dead” because of what he did to her and a few other girls her age. Each member of Susie’s family copes differently with the tragedy. While her father Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and sister Lindsey (Rose Mclver) become obsessed with finding the killer, her mother Abigail (Rachel Weisz) withdraws from the household after she yells at her husband, imploring him, “Can’t you just leave it alone!” Of all of them, Susie’s brother Buckley (Christian Thomas Ashdale) is calmed by the understanding that “Susie is in the in-between,” watching over them.

While stuck in the “in-between,” Susie is torn between her craving for vengeance and her desire to move on to Heaven. However, it is her emotional involvement with her old life that pushes her to seek vengeance. Her mother and brother just want to leave it alone, while her father and sister crave understanding and revenge. As Susie watches from the blue horizon, she sees her father and sister piece together clues that might lead to her murderer.

“The Lovely Bones” is full of strong emotional scenes that will resonate for many. The ending, while satisfactory, is a low point of the film, but the plot is spattered with moments that will make your heart jump or, in other instances, break. This movie will make you feel sad, confused, and like the characters, stuck between knowing and not knowing.Lovely Bones review

Comment

Commenting is closed for this article.