Movie Review: The Lovely Bones
Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) was 14-years-old when she was murdered by her neighbor (Stanely Tucci). After death, Susie is stuck in “the in-between,” a purgatory-like place where she watches her family as they try to piece together the mystery surrounding her death. As she watches her family, particularly her father (Mark Wahlberg), struggle to cope, she finds it increasingly difficult to find the closure she needs in order to move on to heaven.
In his latest film, The Lovely Bones, Oscar-winning writer/director Peter Jackson, known for creating vast worlds almost from scratch (see The Lord of the Rings trilogy or King Kong), tries his hand at constructing an even more challenging landscape: the afterlife. While The Lovely Bones seems to tell a much more intimate story than Jackson’s previous works, his vision is just as far-reaching. Unfortunately, it seems to slip from his grasp.
Jackson has got a lot going on in this movie: a murder mystery, a family trying to cope with the loss of a daughter, a killer plotting his escape and a victim stuck in purgatory trying to find the closure needed to move on. These elements are each interesting and complex enough to carry a film of their own, but when crammed together, none are fleshed out enough to have an impact. In adapting Alice Sebold’s novel, Jackson refuses to omit any of these general ideas, yet doesn’t include any of the crucial details that make them intriguing. This cocktail of ideas without any clear direction or established purpose result in a film that somehow feels both overly ambitious and insufficiently passionate.
On top of Peter Jackson the writer’s failure to construct a successful narrative, Peter Jackson the director adds so much unnecessary artistic flourish to the film, it becomes almost unwatchable. His desperate attempts to add depth through visual symbols are so obviously calculated, they lack credibility and the film’s score is repetitive and loud compared with the rest of the sound design, making it more annoying than pertinent.
There is no doubting Jackson’s talent as a filmmaker, but The Lovely Bones is a huge misstep.
