2009, dir. Peter Jackson
The Lovely Bones is the story of Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), a teen girl who is murdered by George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), a man in her neighborhood. The story is told by Susie, post-death, from “the in-between” as she watches her family struggle with her loss, investigate and discover her killer, and try to move on.
Sigh.
I could care less about these characters. They were such caricatures, so obviously acting that they really should have just been screaming, “Hello, I’m an Actor!” the whole time. It would have at least been amusing, and possibly less cringe-worthy. The best part of the story–Susie’s family fighting to find her killer and the killer’s continuance to get away with it–were enjoyable. Except we kept being pulled from it to watch Susie prance around the “in-between” (a place half-way between the life she left behind and heaven). This equalled nothing but a constant and annoying interruption into a story that was otherwise flowing.
The shining bright spot was the marvelous Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. I must admit, this movie sparked in me a red hot crush on the man. Please, let’s forget that this comes when he’s playing a creepy, murderous pervert. I don’t even want to think what that might say about me. Let’s focus on his talent and those gorgeous eyeballs instead. Yowza!
I also appreciated the set design and costuming. They gave the real-world environment of the film a nice sentimentality. This was especially true for me in regards to the charm bracelet. It’s Susie’s and George keeps it after killing her. My mom had one just like it and she used to let me wear it when I was young. On it was a house charm just like the one on Susie’s. My mom also had a toilet charm and a toaster charm (you could even push down the little pieces of toast into the slots!).
Aside from being nostalgic and heady with Stanley Tucci admiration, I cannot say that I enjoyed The Lovely Bones. I cringed. A lot. And kept catching myself making a horrified face up at the screen.
Again: Sigh.
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