Set in 1970s suburban America, "The Lovely Bones", adapted from a novel by Alice Sebold, tells the story of the death of radiant tween girl Susie Salmon, played wonderfully by Saoirse Ronan ("City of Ember"). Covered are the weeks leading up to her murder, as well as her early time in the afterlife; ultimately subjective version of heaven. (Thankfully not covered on screen is the murder itself.) Striking the balance for the need for justice to be brought against the killer (a seething and unforgettable Stanley Tucci) and the need for the family to move on.
Two big problems keep "The Lovely Bones" from being an altogether great movie. First is that the otherwise exceptionally crafted first thirty or so minutes of the film set it up to be something other than what it ends up being. Aside from the beyond-the-grave narration continuous throughout the film, "The Lovely Bones" begins as a decidedly real-world story, careening toward the inevitable murder. I was braced for something far more somber, and was then tonally taken aback by the big, special effects sequences that quickly followed.
Peter Jackson's version of Suzie's subjective afterlife experience most evokes the overblown visual panache of Vincent Ward's "What Dreams May Come". The effects-heavy afterlife sequences are not necessarily flawed in and of themselves, but by virtue of their very appearance at that point, they removed me, just a bit, from what was up until then was a much smaller, personally engaging film. Suddenly our main character is gazing into a flower-pedaled sky while dolloping on the beach, the nearby ocean filled with full-sized versions her father's model ships inside of giant bottles. (Again, harkening back to "What Dreams May Come" in a very specific way - that films also featured a full size boat in the afterlife that harkened back to a miniature version established earlier in family life.) Perhaps if Jackson had somehow laid the thematic groundwork for this epic C.G.fest earlier in the film, it wouldn't seem so obtrusive. Eventually, the film reconciles the extremes of the computer generated afterlife and the run-of-the-mill real world. But with the intrusive element of spectacle so large from that point on, it's almost impossible to completely lose yourself in this film.
That said, Peter Jackson and company have done pretty remarkable job here in making us care for the girl, and her family, which is subsequently torn apart in the months following the murder. With Mark Wahlberg playing another suburban normal guy as he did to terrible effect in M. Night Shyamalan's gross misfire "The Happening", there was reason to be nervous about the casting. Well, all nervousness can be put aside, as Jackson knows just how to make use of the talented Wahlberg's rough-edged sensitivity. Rachel Weisz plays Susie's traumatized mother, who eventually, overcome by grief, splits.
Which brings us to the second problem point of the film. As we've seen in the past, Jackson tends to have the right ideas, but sometimes puts the pieces together in a slightly wrong order. One misplaced moment can result in the emotional beats being jarringly wrong. In "The Lovely Bones", Jackson chooses to immediately follow an extremely tense, very effective sequence straight away with the sensitive pay-off to the family's rupture. As an audience member, it's satisfying to find out what happens to the family as a whole, but at that exact moment, all I could think of was the dangling threads from the tense sequence that preceded it. I wanted to yell, "This can wait until later!! Someone needs to call the cops, NOW!!" Again, an unfortunate rupture in my willing suspension of disbelief in an otherwise very compelling, very unique film.
Like last year's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", this film is tough one to pin down. Clearly flawed on hand, but of unique effectiveness on the other, "The Lovely Bones" casts an oddly dark but compelling shadow. Of course, in the end, this film will likely be a mere footnote on the filmography of Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson. But it is worth a look, maybe even two. Particularly the performances, some of which may enjoy glowing afterlives as Oscar nominees.
- Jim Tudor