Movie Review: The Lovely Bones

In order to fairly review the movie, I must first discuss the book. The Lovely Bones, written by Alice Sebold, was no small miracle of a novel because it took subject matter that does not lend itself to beautiful storytelling and it does just that. The book begins with a chilling description of a horrendous crime; the rape and murder of 14 year old, Susie Salmon (“like the fish”). It then takes you on an unbelievable journey of healing, forgiveness, understanding, and moving on. Sebold describes the progression and transformation of grief for Susie's family, friends and the community she lived in. She reveals the odd friendships made and the relationships destroyed: the devastated father who buries his sadness trying to gather evidence, the mother who escapes "her ruined heart, in merciful adultery." She simultaneously brings to life an entire suburban community, from the mortician's son to the handsome biker dropout who quietly helps investigate Susie's murder. The novel is about "the lovely bones" growing around Susie's death as everyone goes on with their life. These are qualities and subjects that simply do not lend themselves to Peter Jackson’s (Lord of the Rings) style of epic commercial movie-making. It is as simple as that. Caught up in the computer generated heaven he creates and the creepy, murderous pedophile, Mr. Harvey (played by an unrecognizable – Stanley Tucci), the whole point of the story is lost, and I mean really lost. And unless I fell asleep during some of the unbearable 135 minutes of running time, most of those poignant issues that are the crux of this story, are absent in the movie. The source material is turned into a serial-killer thriller, that’s not so thrilling, concentrating on Harvey’s next victim. The raw emotions uncovered by the voice of a child who grieves for her survivors, so beautifully told in the book, are no where to be found. Saoirse Ronan is unbelievable as Susie. Do you remember her as Briony Tallis in Atonement? She is something else. As for the rest of the cast: Sarandon, Tucci, Rachel Weisz and Wahlberg, it is simply a case of great actors (Wahlberg – not so much) working with not so great material. Sebold was not involved in the screenplay; a mistake. Skip it but if you have not read the book, read it. You won’t be sorry.

p.s. Alice Sebold’s description of rape was so bitingly clear in the book because she was viciously raped her freshman year of college. Her book, Lucky: A Memoir, is a fascinating and brutally honest recounting of her ordeal and the legal system which seems unfairly geared towards protecting the perpetrator. When interviewed by the police, they told her she was “lucky” because at least she wasn’t murdered and dismembered like the girl before her. Her experience was the inspiration for her writing The Lovely Bones and shaped the rest of her life.