The Lovely Bones

This movie is narrated by 14 year old Susie Salmon who was brutally raped and murdered. This story takes place during the 70s in a small town in Pennsylvania. After Susie is killed the family falls apart; the mother leaves the family because her husband was obsessing over finding their daughter’s killer. Susie’s mother wants to try to begin living life as normal, but it’s impossible when her other daughter, Lindsey and her husband are set on finding the murderer. The grandmother, a matter-of-fact alcoholic, came into live with the family to help keep the family a little sane. Meanwhile, Susie is stuck in purgatory; helplessly watching her family collapse and sensing that her murderer is going to strike again. The psychopath serial killer is their seemingly normal next-door neighbor, George Harvey, who begins to choose his next victim, Lindsey.

Stanley Tucci plays Harvey and does a phenomenal job in this role, maybe a little too good. He gives Hannibal Lecter a run for his money in this part, and Anthony Hopkins is outstanding and is able to give me goose bumps each time I watch the Hannibal movies. Every aspect of his character helped to make him seem that much more terrifying, from his sickening chuckle to his sly smile and how he was able to lure his victims using his different baits. Harvey is scarier because it’s much more likely to run into a creep like him than a Hannibal, although it does happen. I think the aspect of this film that scared me the most was the fact that nobody ever questioned him. He pruned his roses, made doll houses and kept to himself, yet over the past decade he had raped and murdered many young girls. It’s a small insight into the mind of these psychos and how they are able to get away with the awful crimes they commit.

Peter Jackson definitely was able to capture the suspense factor in this movie, but with enough flashes back to Susie in her place of limbo to break it up. A movie that is all suspense, and has the audience tense and on the edge of their seat the entire time is not an enjoyable experience, it’s a very fine line the directors need to walk to have to correct balance of suspense.

On one hand we have the drama down on Earth taking place, and on the other is also Susie discovering the “land of limbo” where she meets another girl. She is presented to all of the other victims killed by the same man, including a six year old girl. It’s composed of purple mountains, powerful waterfalls, blazing deserts and other oases that all morph into one another as the two walk. This part was my favorite because it was so visually striking with the swirling moons and marmalade skies. Peter Jackson, the king of CGI, incorporates a lot into this film. I loved how artsy it was and these breaks from the suspense down below allowed me to breathe again. The colors are vibrant and fun, the opposite of the feelings of her family. Some of the reviews see this as a mistake Jackson made because not everyone wants to know what heaven looks like. I disagree with this statement, ignoring the fact that it’s supposed to be purgatory and only focusing on the CGI and visual effects, they are incredible scenes.
Before I wrote this review I wanted to read some others to see what the general consensus on this movie was and in most of the articles I read the critic didn’t like it. It was either because the movie didn’t do an adequate job following the story from the bestselling book it was based on, or it sent too much of a mixed message. I haven’t read this book, but I do plan to this summer, and my opinion of the movie’s way of presenting this story will probably change. It was interesting that the movie seemed to make the point of showing how much you have to look forward to after you die and almost make it look more appealing than living on Earth with all of the problems that it entails.

All and all, though I can’t say I thoroughly enjoyed this movie because the story truly did leave me feeling fearful, I thought it was well done and the actors did a fantastic job in their roles. The visual effects were a needed letup from the intense suspense happening in the present and brought a whole new feature to this film to help make it a touch lighter. I’m not sure that I’d watch it again, but I would definitely recommend it at least for the scenes where she is in limbo.