The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones is the latest film by Peter Jackson (The Lord of The Rings trilogy, King Kong), starring Saorise Ronan (Susie Salmon), Mark Wahlberg (Jack Salmon), Rachel Weisz (Abigail Salmon) and Stanely Tucci (George Harvey).

The story centers around a young girl, by the name of Susie Salmon, who is murdered and chooses to watch over her family - and killer - from 'the in-between'. Through her eyes we see how her family cope with her death and how far they'll go to bring her justice.

Initially, The Lovely Bones seems to be a story filled with grief and despair as we are already told from the beginning by our young narrator that she is in fact dead. On the contrary, although this film is sad and it can sometimes be difficult to see her family through her eyes, it is also a story of love and determination showing the audience that giving up is never an option.

I don't know where to begin with the cast, their sheer brilliance in each character's performance astounded me. Saorise Ronan plays her part fantastically and it is clear to see that she has the potential to move on the bigger and better things. The emotion we feel from her character is moving as we see her desperation to return home as she begins to realise that she cannot do anything about what happened. She can only move forward.

Stanely Tucci, almost unrecognizable in his role as George Harvey, plays his role with a glint in his eye that makes his character seem all that more twisted. His obsession with perfection and tendency to calculate his plans of attack by drawing the contraption with which he is going to trap his victims truly shows his insanity. I commend Stanely Tucci in this role, he played his role to perfection and it almost seemed as if this sick, twisted man truly existed.

Mark Wahlberg also deserves commendation. Using his skills as an actor we can truly feel the pain that his character is going through, the desperation he has in order to find his daughter's killer seems so real. Wahlberg brings his character to life and we almost seem to be in his shoes during the film as we feel his pain, we all want to bring justice for Susie.

The effects in the film were stunning in some regions. The visual imagination is magnificent as Susie's world changes seasons and settings in a split second, as if there is no fixed image of her heaven. Unfortunately, the effects can seem fake and this can sometimes bring down the wonder of the setting as we watch Susie walk around in her own perfect world.

This film was just beautiful. It was a sad, heartfelt film, but it was beautiful. How one could feel the characters living within them. How you could only sit on the edge of your seat as you hoped and prayed to yourself that Susie would finally get the justice she deserves. A stunning film, I commend Peter Jackson greatly, he truly is a genius of film making.

5/5