The Lovely Bones User Reviews

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  Here's a promising film that turned out disappointing. Before you read any further, understand that I haven't read the novel that this film is based on, so forgive me ahead of time if I'm a bit ignorant to specific details that center around this story. Fourteen year old Susie Salmon is a happy girl, the middle child of three, and a promising student. She's just your typical fourteen year old girl, interested in a certain boy at school and the things that girls of this age are interested in. Problem is, her neighbor across the street is interested in murdering her, and that's exactly what happens. Now she's stuck in the "in between", a world between Heaven and Hell where she can see everyone down on earth but can't really communicate with others. I guess my biggest problem with this film is that from knowing the very little information about this film and novel as I did before watching this, I guess I imagined a much better film then what was panned out. Peter Jackson's a terrific director and he's given us probably the greatest film trilogy of my generation in "The Lord of the Rings", but this is a story that could have used a little less CGI and a little more fleshing out of characters. The actress that plays are main character, Saoirse Ronan, does a fantastic job with what's she's given, however, you've got a great actor in Michael Imperioli, and he's completely wasted in this film by being given nothing. He's only in a handful of scenes, and he's made to look like a complete idiot. Again I haven't read the book, so if that's how the cop is in the book, then I apologize. Susan Sarandon shows up as an estranged grandmother, and does an excellent job for a bit, but again her story and background aren't fleshed out enough for us to really care. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz do fine as the parents, but again it's a complaint with no material to go around. In fact the only true performance here that I felt was captivating, was that of Stanley Tucci, whom plays the serial killer neighbor. His actions and emotions speak the world of his disgusting character, and he's almost unrecognizable in this role. You really grow to hate him during the film. However, the over emphasis on CGI technology and not enough on story and plot make me unconvinced of this films potential during the awards season. Not even close to the worst movie I've sat through, but not close to the greatest either. It's just average.