The Lovely Bones (2009)

"My name is Salmon, like the fish. First name, Susie. I was fourteen years old when I was murdered on December 6th, 1973"

Peter Jackson's latest

Based on Alice Sebold's best-selling novel of the same name, this is an adaptation

that just wasn't ambitious enough.Susie Salmon is raped and murdered at the age

of fourteen, but that is not the end of her story as she enters the 'in-between' and is

able to watch her family and murderer as time passes. The film is very uneven and I

know it's an adapation and can't possibly be the same as the book, but it changes

and leaves out some important parts of the source material.

For instance, no mention is made of Susie's rape, it's not shown and just barely

implied. Alice Sebold was raped as a freshman at university, and the book caputures

Susie's harrowing ordeal and suffering at the time of the rape and as the years past

by while she tries to work out why this happened to her.

Also, the film is squashed into a shorter period of time so the story doesn't develop

as well as it should. One of the things I took away from the book was the

heart-breaking love story between Susie and her first love Ray. The film messes up

the first kiss (It doesn't happen!), so the ending doesn't work and just seems, well,

weird.

I dunno, maybe there's a great movie on the cutting-room floor, but as it is, it's just

merely good, if a little confusing.This is something I experienced with 'The Lord of

the Rings : The Return of the King,' where watching the film in the cinema, and

having experienced the extended editions of the previous two films in the trilogy, I

couldn't help think Jackson was holding out and just getting the film under three

hours. I was let down then and feel this story has been let down for the same reason.

I am looking forward to watching this on Blu-ray, there are some wonderful images

on display here, as Stanley Tucci has done an amazing job as Mr. Harvey,

unrecognisable under great make-up and acting skill. Saoirse Ronan is also

wonderful as Susie, but, again, I feel there's more to her performance. Rachael

Weisz is also good but underused and Susan Sarandon is having fun as the

grandmother. The only let-down is Mark Wahlberg who just doesn't convince as the

father and has to carry too much of the story.

6 out of 10