The Lovely Bones: Well Worth My Money

“My name is Salmon, like the fish; first name Susie. I was fourteen years old when I was murdered on December 6th, 1973.” The moment I heard those words, I was immediately drawn to see the film, catching myself as I whispered, “Wow, this looks awesome.”

It had been nearly two and a half months since I said those words. Form the very beginning; I intended to see the movie upon its release, but due to unforeseen circumstances I pushed it back and back. Finally, weeks after the premiere, I was able to plan on a day when I could travel to the theater and see it.

Reviews were very critical, many stated that the film was perhaps Jackson’s worst and could have been something much better than it really was. On rottentomatoes.com, "The Lovely Bones" scored a dismal thirty-three percent (with a possible total of one-hundred.) I have to admit that I was getting a bit skeptical about the movie when another site (reelmovienews.com) gave it a 2.0 out of 10.0. I was afraid that perhaps it wasn’t worth the two hours of my time.

I had never been happier at being proven absolutely wrong.

Despite all the bashing the movie received from the critics, I’m happy to say that "The Lovely Bones" was definitely worth the money I paid to see it. "The Lovely Bones" was a film unlike any other I had seen before and in my opinion, will likely ever see again. Going into the theater, one thinks that this will be a movie in which one leaves sad and depressed; I was surprised to discover the exact opposite. I would be lying, however, if I misled you to believe that there was no sadness in it; in fact, that’s one of the aspects that makes "The Lovely Bones" so wonderful. But a sense of humor and joy does exist, Ronan states:

“I know a lot of people must think that "The Lovely Bones" is a pretty dramatic film and it's going to be really deep and dark and everything, but I promise you it's not. It's really humorous and funny and bright and happy. Then this awful thing happens and it kind of makes everyone really sad, obviously, but they have to get on with things... There's some really dramatic scenes in it as well, which is great with "The Lovely Bones" because you kind of get the best of both worlds. You get to do funny scenes and dramatic scenes. You get to cry, you get to laugh...”

The story is a struggle for both the deceased Susie and her family to learn to forget and let go. It explores the human nature to dwell on the past and the tendency to ask yourself questions like “what could have happened if...” and “if only I hadn’t done this, things would be better...” The Lovely Bones, in a way, helps to explain the importance of taking things how they are one day at a time.

I strongly believe that if it was not for the superb acting of Stanley Tucci (George Harvey) and Saoirse Ronan (Susie Salmon) the film would not have been as startlingly remarkable. Ronan performed in such a way that you could feel Susie’s pain and understand her hatred; while Tucci did an outstanding job of portraying a silent, obsessive, and socially-deranged man.

The film itself earned its place in my mind as one of the best films I’ve had the pleasure of seeing, I’ve even planned a time to go and watch it for a second time. There is no doubt in my mind that I’ll purchase the film on its DVD release and view it again and again.

This hasn’t been the first time I’ve disagreed with the critics, but it is the first time I’ve disagreed so strongly. True that the movie does not follow the book, but it is a great film in its own right nonetheless. In the critic world, due to its supposed horribly portrayed connections of life and the world after, it had earned the nickname “The ‘Not So’ Lovely Bones.” After seeing the film and returning home satisfied, I must politely disagree.