The Lovely Bones...REVIEWED WITH SPECIAL SAUCE!!! SPOILERS!!!

After a couple of WordPress crashes (a world of GRRRR) I've decided to post from the old faithful blogger instead.

After a long wait, The Lovely Bones finally arrived to the Granada in downtown La Grande.  Angels sung out in chorus and devils danced a gig.  All was right with the world and my girlfriend and I took it in immediately.

After having seen it, I realized one thing...I was glad I didn't read the book.

Simmer down now, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to read the book.  Point of fact, I'm actually going to borrow it from my gf just as soon as my schedule opens up so I can see what the source material was like.

RANDOM TANGENT!  Adaptation.  Source material.  I'll get to that at the end, for now, on to the QuikSyn!

QuikSyn:  Susie Salmon is the simple, cheerful, wicked cool-on the verge of her first kiss-type of girl who has a serious zest for life.  She's good natured, loving and trusting to a fault when one day, after a walk home from school...she disappears.  In a time when children disappearing may or may not have been treated with the same seriousness as it is today, a half-hearted search effort by the police turns up no leads.  Meanwhile, beyond the world of the living, Susie finds her self in the in between; a place between heaven and earth where she fights to stay.  Her father, determined to find her, continues his search which leads him to his neighbor George Harvey, an eerie and lonely man who killed Susie and has killed before.  Meanwhile, Susie's sister Lindsey, takes up the reigns of her fathers investigation to find the proof of who Mr. Harvey really is and what happened to Susie Salmon.

Generally, this film kept me rooted in my seat the whole time.  I never found myself checking the time or wondering if the concessions were still open.  I actually, very much, enjoyed being at the film.

I felt like the visuals were stunning, not breaking down barriers but beautiful in both their lightness and their dark. There were moments that stayed with you, like Susie's realization as she walked through time, seeing her killer bathe in the tub...almost relaxing after a hard day's work.  Bathed in white light, with only splashes of red to disrupt the serenity of what you start off thinking is a safe place to be in.

I enjoyed the story and really connected with the Susie Salmon (SAOIRSE RONAN).  There were times I could feel myself pulling at the fabric of space/time to help her return to her family.  Saoirse Ronana does an excellent job of playing, well, a young teen but she isn't without her merits.  It's not that she played a teen but brought a real character to life.  If you look at her impressive body of work thus far, City of Ember & Atonement, you realize that the girl has some skill and will hopefully become one of the new leading women in the film industry.

Mark Wahlberg redeems himself as an actor, a little bit, in his performance as Jack Salmon.  It is probably one of his better performances since I Heart Huckabees...but not better than that.  He still seems to make weird choices that take you out of his performances but when he's rooted in the pain of losing his daughter and the return of his wife, he's believable, I'll say that.

The Happpening....shudder Mark Wahlberg.  Shudder.

Okay, now...what failed.

I really enjoyed the moment where Susie steals the body of Ruth (CAROLYN DANDO) but it left me kind of confused.  If she had this ability, why not use it earlier to say, I don't know, expose her killer?  Big plot hole here that took a leap of faith to follow and only my enjoyment of Saoirse's performance kept me from uttering a very vocal "HUH?!"

Tucci's performance, although quite good, had my creep radar going off the moment he stepped on screen.  There is no amount of money, promises of candy, a fun playhouse or anything that would have convinced me that walking off with him was a good idea.  The creep went a little far and is better suited when we're alone with him.  We're getting to see him behind closed doors and that's when he should feel creepy.   I just felt like we should want to understand why Susie could have made a mistake and walked off with him and I just didn't feel that way.  Sorry Peter.

Okay, about what I said earlier.  Set the scene:  I didn't read the book.  Done.

I've mentioned it in other reviews on my feelings about comparing books with their adapted film counterpart and I'll say it again.  Best advice, don't do it.  My logic is pretty simply formulated:  Books and films deliver their similar messages in completely different ways.  I admire the cries of the diehard fan or "fanboy" or "fanboyette" as I refer to them.  You know the type, if everything is not as it is in the book or not how they envisioned in their heads, it's a travesty and the world has failed them.  There seems to be a difficulty in these individuals to separate reality from fiction.  To separate from the idea that a book can be completely adapted to the screen, word for word.  It can't.  Books have the luxury of time that movies can not afford.  I don't think anyone would sit and watch a seven hour movie about The Lovely Bones.

Again, I have not read the book but this film is directed by one of those directors who believes in being as faithful to the source material as possible.  I could be wrong, but not likely.

Overall, I really enjoyed the film and would highly recommend you catch it when you can.  It's worth the watch.  I was sad to see it go after barely a week but Alvin & the Crapmunks were here for a month. RAGE!  (No, I didn't see the Crapmunks, but when Jason Lee won't return for the sequel?  Really?)

4 out of 5 Stars.

Next up, I have a big surprise screener from a local Director!  EXCITEMENT!  After that look for either Dear John, Percy Jackson and the Olympians, or Valentine's Day!

Fish and Chips,
Chuck

poster image sourced from:  http://pacejmiller.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/the-lovely-bones-poster.jpg
second image sourced from:  http://thefilmstage.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/TheLovelyBones.jpg
Tucci image sourced from:  http://photogallery.filmofilia.com/data/media/116/the_lovely_bones_13.jpg