AT THE MOVIES WITH KASEY BUTCHER
The Lovely Bones is narrated by 14 year-old Susie Salmon from “the inbetween,” the perfect world she roams after she is murdered, unable to let go of the people she loves on Earth. Susie makes it clear that her story is not a whodunit mystery. She tells you up front that she was murdered and, shortly after, who did it. Rather than diminishing the suspense, Susie’s revelations make her story harder to watch, as the audience is tense, witnessing it unfold. Really, however, The Lovely Bones is about how Susie lets go of her family and how they learn to cope with losing her. The focus of the film (as in the novel) is not on how and when Susie was killed, but on how she tries to help her father solve the “mystery” of her murder and how she watches her family and friends live after her death.
Saoirse Ronan (Atonement) delivers a fantastic portrayal of Susie, who tells the story of her own death, and what came after, in a quippy, but poignant narration. Ronan brings effervescence to the character, who is a bright spot in her own dark story, and shows an immense emotional range and depth, characteristic of her talent at just 15 years old.
If you’re a long-time fan of Stanley Tucci (Julie & Julia, ER) brace yourself for something totally different. As George Harvey, Susie’s neighbor and murderer, Tucci’s performance is so good my stomach turned whenever he came on screen. A predator hiding in plain sight, Tucci, assisted by fantastic camera work, manages to be present and highly-alert when he is just barely in the scene, making his character feel like a monster lurking in the shadows while also acting convincingly mundane. Tucci seems to disappear into Mr. Harvey, a man who could really be anyone’s weird neighbor, in a really scary way. He was robbed of a Golden Globe.
As Jack Salmon, Mark Wahlberg was so good I’ve finally agreed to stop calling him “Marky Mark.” A father trying to find the murderer of his daughter, the part could have easily felt clichéd, but Wahlberg kept it real. He carries the role from being the father of a happy little girl to a man trying, perhaps in vain, to keep it together for his family. He is believable and compelling and I was really impressed.
Director Peter Jackson must have had a lot of fun with the CGI on this film. At times Susie’s “perfect world” looks like she’s trapped in a Lisa Frank folder. It makes sense, because the setting is coming from the mind of a 14 year-old girl, but occasionally the special effects are distracting. When not over-the-top, however, the afterlife of Susie Salmon is full of interesting visuals and intricate symbolism that enhance the story, even as Jackson departs from the novel.
The costuming in The Lovely Bones also stood out to me as particularly well done. Although Susie’s primary costume, yellow bellbottoms and a blue parka, as described in the book, costume designer Nancy Steiner recreates and accessorizes it with little details that perfectly fit a 14 year-old girl. Because Susie wears the same outfit for most of the film, these details, such as a small butterfly ring, become little parts of developing Susie’s character, and reminders of the innocence that has been violated.
The talk of the town has been that people who loved the book by Alice Sebold won’t like the movie. I don’t think that’s really a fair assessment. I read The Lovely Bones this week and did so in one sitting because of how intense and wonderful the writing was. Afterward I couldn’t get the voice of Susie Salmon out of my head. It made me grateful that every copy was checked out of every library and I had to buy the book. Peter Jackson’s adaptation certainly does not fully capture the dark intensity of the novel or the painful depth of each character’s story. He changes some things and wholly leaves out other aspects and, compared to the book, the experience pales. I think, however, given the fundamental differences between telling a story in a 300+ page novel and telling a story in a two-hour movie, Jackson did a fantastic job. His movie stays true to the character of Susie Salmon and to the journey she and her family make after her death. The Lovely Bones is both beautiful and difficult to watch, paying tribute to the delicate and charged language of Sebold’s novel and the bonds the reader makes with her characters.
The Lovely Bones, directed and written by Peter Jackson with Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, based on the novel by Alice Sebold, runs 135 minutes and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language.
****/5
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