The Lovely Bones (2009)

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers (WGA):

Fran Walsh (screenplay) &
Philippa Boyens (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

15 January 2010 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

The story of a life and everything that came after...

Plot:

Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Afterlife | Rape | Dead Child | Funeral

Awards:

Nominated for Golden Globe. Another 9 nominations

Cast

Saoirse Ronan	...	Susie Salmon
Rachel Weisz	...	Abigail Salmon
Mark Wahlberg	...	Jack Salmon
Susan Sarandon	...	Grandma Lynn
Stanley Tucci	...	George Harvey
Amanda Michalka	...	Clarissa
Jake Abel	...	Brian Nelson
Rose McIver	...	Lindsey Salmon
Michael Imperioli	...	Len Fenerman
Reece Ritchie	...	Ray Singh
Thomas McCarthy	...	Principal Caden
Nikki SooHoo	...	Holly
Andrew James Allen	...	Samuel Heckler
Carolyn Dando	...	Ruth
Anna George	...	Mrs. Singh
Charlie Saxton	...	Ronald Drake
Christian Thomas Ashdale	...	Buckley Salmon
Robyn Malcolm	...	Foremans Wife
Stink Fisher	...	Mr. Connors
Stefania Owen	...	Flora Hernandez
Bravo	...	Holiday - Dog
Steven Moreti	...	Diner Customer
Tina Graham	...	Sophie Cichetti
Seth F. Miller	...	Soccer Coach

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language.

Runtime:

135 min

Country:

USA | UK | New Zealand

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

USA:PG-13 | Japan:G | UK:12A | Ireland:15A

Filming Locations:

Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Company:

WingNut Films

Trivia:

Mark Wahlberg replaced Ryan Gosling just days before shooting began. In preparation for the role, Gosling had gained 20 pounds and grew out a beard. However, he vacated the role due to creative differences. Wahlberg, who had just completed shooting The Happening (2008), another production in Pennsylvania, became available just in time to accept Gosling's role.

Quotes:

Susie Salmon: Always, I would watch Ray; I was in the air around him, I was in the cold winter mornings he spent with Ruth Connors; and sometimes Ray would think of me, but he began to wonder maybe it was time to put that memory away, maybe it was time to let me go.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Jay Leno Show: (#1.59)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Alice

Forget the book, this film is a disaster on its own terms

Pretty to look at, beautiful at times even, but with all his distractions Jackson has somehow managed to take brutal and disturbing subject matter and leave me feeling nothing apart from vague amusement and disbelief that he actually went there.

I haven't read the book, and even I could tell he completely missed the point. This story, which seems like it should be about the slow disintegration of a family following an unimaginable tragedy, has been turned into a campy whodunnit where you know who dun it from the start.

Rather than concentrate on the relationships between the characters, he fails to connect the dots, jumping perspectives often enough to break any of those connections. It comes across as a set of disjointed episodes with overdone cgi in between rather than a coherent story. The jumps are so jarring at times (Oh look, mom is moving out. Oh look, she's come back again) I have to wonder if some of this is down to the editing and there was far more here in earlier cuts.

There's one particularly tone-deaf sequence where the grandmother (Susan Sarandon, clearly enjoying herself) swoops in and tries to "cheer everyone up". Fair enough there are people who would do that in this sort of situation, but it is so so overdone - overflowing the washer, setting the kitchen ablaze, all to a bouncy rock soundtrack - that I couldn't help thinking of Mrs Doubtfire. Completely off-color for something like this. I was struggling already but kind of gave up at this point, even if I did want to see how far he would go - and the ending is a doozy! After the luminous first half-hour, where I thought there was potential for a serious shattered innocence angle, it's a long sequence of "wait... really?" moments.

The actors try hard, including Wahlberg who I have trouble taking seriously after "The Happening", and I'm pretty sure THEY understood the real story here, but Jackson gives them very little to work with. Actors often say they don't like to watch their own work, because it's almost always disappointing to see a different story than the one you thought you were telling, and they would be well-advised to stay away from this one because Jackson not only changes the story - he barely tells a story at all.