Peter Jackson will be known forever as the director of Lord of the Rings films. No matter what his other accomplishments, that trilogy of movies will be the watermark that every other film strives for both in terms of mass and critical acceptance. But, before all his successes with major motion pictures, he was a director of small intense little works. The Lovely Bones is a slight return to those roots.
The film is about Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old girl living in the Pennsylvania suburbs in the 1970’s. We know from the beginning that she will die. The story is about what happens after that tragic event. Her father Jack (Mark Wahlberg) and mother Abby (Rachel Weisz) struggle to keep their middle-class family together. We see Susie’s life, with first crushes on boys and posters of David Cassidy. We also get sinister forces. The neighbor George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) watches all the kids in the neighborhood with just a bit too much abandon. His hobby of building doll houses is just another element of being too creepy. He designs and special place to commit his diabolical deed.
Soon, Susie is gone from the land of the living. She is in a mystical, magical place. Through her perch, she can see the events on the ground. Her death begins to tear the family apart. Dad becomes violent and Mom becomes distant. Susie realizes that she can not go on her journey without her family being content to move on. Grandmother Lynn (Susan Sarandon) decides to visit in order to help the Salmon family pull together, but with her boozing and smoking, isn’t the best of a counselor.
The story of The Lovely Bones is a tale of finding peace with a tragic situation, about finding shards of hope in a hopeless world. The movie splits into two different films that never seem to resolve themselves in the end. The images of the Afterlife juxtaposed with a splintering family trying to make sense of senselessness go together like misshaped puzzle pieces, never giving a coherent picture.
Stanley Tucci as George Harvey is one of the best performances of 2009. He is creepy and treacherous without every being over the top. You want him to die a slow painful death at the hands of the Salmon family almost from the beginning. His character is methodical and exact while being treacherous to a seldom seen degree. This disturbing performance is adored by critics and the Academy.
Saoirse Ronan truly captures the inner monologue of her character. She is the typical youngster trying to figure out love and life then tragically having everything taken away. Her resolve to fix things in this world from the next one gives the film its backbone of hope and love. This is a very difficult role to pull off, and the young actress does an amazing job of conveying emotions.
Mark Wahlberg has been building both a solid range in his performances and a solid resume of different characters. Here he comes across as a shattered man, one who has to come to grips with thousands of different and conflicting emotions. Being a smaller role, his Jack could have been overpowered by the fantastical elements of The Lovely Bones, but the actor rises to the ocassion.
I was disappointed by the performance of Rachel Weisz as mother. This actress has proved time and time again that she is one of the finest performers working today. Here the entire exercise of her character feels emotionally dishonest. One always expects more when Mrs Weisz is on the screen and here the performance didn’t rise to the level needed.
The Lovely Bones is a beautiful film that I never want to see again. While it has some of the most picturesque images put of film, the entire exercise is just too hard to take in. Call me too sensitive, but images of a child being murdered is too disturbing to watch again. Where the film tries to generate hope, I found it lacking in basic understanding and sympathy. There is not avenging justice in The Lovely Bones, no satisfaction that right wins.
Peter Jackson is now at a point in his career where he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone. Delivering some of the best and biggest hits of the last few years, he can now make those ‘personal projects’ that directors always claim they want to put on the silver screen. This is his first step in that direction.
(One always expects more when Mrs Weisz is on the screen and here the performance didn’t rise to the level needed.)
Maybe that’s because most of Weisz’s scenes were left on the cutting room floor, which she herself confermed(http://www.joblo.com/interview-lovely-bones-star-rachel-weisz)
And even with that injustice thanks to the bad editing of Peter Jackson, she still did a better job than Mark Wahlberg, who was not only miscast but gave his worst performance on screen yet.
I haven’t read the book yet and want to before I see the film. Heavenly Creatures ( I saw it in the theatres when it was first released) was my first introduction to Peter Jackson, (and yes, crazily I LOVED the film) so I look forward to seeing him work on something more artistic.