The Lovely Bones

Recently, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the filmThe Lovely Bones. I wasn’t expecting much from it at first (due to my complete dislike of the book), but it turned out to be one of the best movies I’ve seen in 2010.

It all begins with a fourteen year old girl, Susie Salmon (yes, like the fish, which she blatantly points out in both the book and the movie), who was murdered on December 6, 1973. She was murdered by the stereotypically creepy man who lives down the street, as is explained right from the first minute or two of the movie. It kept me holding my breath as it switched from the scenes of her about to be murdered, to her family, who slowly realized that she would never make it back home.

The whole movie shows her in her ‘perfect’ world, which she soon finds out is not perfect at all. The veneer of beauty in the ‘in between,’ where she is until she can leave her life on earth and finally go to heaven, is just a covering of the hideous things she must face before she can truly be free. She must watch her family begin to put the pieces together, and finally start uncovering all of the clues that were left behind in the murder, while simultaneously showing herself to people at times. For instance, Ruth, the girl who her spirit brushed up against as she was running from earth. The whole movie was beautifully done, and you have to see it to understand the sheer greatness of the visual effects that are used.

There is just one thing I have to complain about this movie, and that is that the ending seems thrown together. I do not know if this was the fault of the producers or the author of the book (because I only made it about three-quarters of the way through the book), but the ending was slightly unsatisfactory. I will not say anymore. However, this is not so serious as to turn someone away from watching it.

I realize now the difference between this movie and the book, and why, for the seemingly first time in history, the movie was actually better than the book. I concluded that the author has created a story that you have to see for yourself. While words can help you image something, this storyline requires the actual visual aid. Why, you ask? Because the scenes are just so astounding and so detailed that you can’t really understand the full luster of the setting until you can get a small peek as to what the author was seeing when she wrote The Lovely Bones.

So, in the end of this, I recommend the movie The Lovely Bones for everyone, whether or not you liked the book, and while it is long (over two hours), just sit down and watch it. I promise that you will not regret the choice.