The Lovely Bones
Best known for his CGI epics (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) and darkly comic splatterfests (Brain Dead, Bad Taste), superstar director Peter Jackson now returns to dramatic subject matter not explored since 1994's Heavenly Creatures.
The Lovely Bones is set in Pennsylvania in the 1970s. It tells the story of a young girl, Susie Salmon (Atonement's Saoirse Ronan), who is brutally raped and murdered. She watches the impact of the events on her family, and murderer, from the afterlife. Jackson has assembled an all-star cast to play out the thriller, including Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon and Stanley Tucci.
- Director:
- Peter Jackson ('Badtaste', 'Meet the Feebles', 'Braindead', 'Heavenly Creatures', 'The Frighteners', 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'King Kong')
- Writer:
- Peter JacksonFran WalshPhilippa Boyens
- Cast:
- Mark WahlbergRachel WeiszSusan SarandonSaoirse RonanStanley TucciRose McIver
Reviews & comments
Flicks, Andrew Hedley
flicksPeter Jackson’s extravagant adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel doesn’t have quite the emotional impact one might hope for, namely due to the twin narrative strands of heartfelt family bonding and grisly serial killing remaining at odds with each other. Rather than leaving the cinema feeling uplifted, you might be creeped out.
What bones may come?
We've come to expect more of the director of BRAINDEAD and those little known Hobbit movies. Visually splendid, yet unengaging, this film version has none of the poer of the original novel. The CGI "heaven" scenes look like Robin Williams' oil painted paradise in WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (another Kiwi directed movie). Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and...
The Lovely Bones
I read the book twice - the first time I hated it and the second time it grew on me. I was looking forward to seeing the movie, but felt some trepidation after hearing the test audience complain it was gory enough (I've seen Bad Taste - I was expecting the worst, especially of the murder.) I was however, very relieved. The depiction of Susie's heaven was...
IS THIS HEAVEN OR IS THIS HELL?
Actually, it's limbo. Thirty minutes in and I knew I'd made a mistake. Not a lot was happening but like paint it took a long while to dry. No suspense. Well, how could there be? We already knew what was going to happen - we got it in voiceover! And visually it wasn't overly special. The scene in the field could have been a cracker, but it turned into a wet...
Don't Listen To Other People's Opinions
I was not going to see this after so much criticism.I am so glad I did. I thought it was a beautiful & quite emotional movie. Well done Peter jackson. There was no need for the death scene to be any more than it was; as some people wanted. I will never listen to other people's opinion when it comes to movies, especially PJ movies.
Variety
pressJackson undermines solid work from a good cast with show-offy celestial evocations that severely disrupt the emotional connections with the characters.
Time Magazine
pressWhen else has the obscenity of child murder been the cause of such gravity and grace?
Rolling Stone
pressAll this is conveyed in the remarkable performance of Ronan, an Oscar nominee for Atonement. She and Tucci -- magnificent as a man of uncontrollable impulses -- help Jackson cut a path to a humanity that supersedes life and death.
Newshub
pressThe Lovely Bones wasn’t the five star wonder-movie I’d hoped for, but I left the cinema more than satisfied with Jackson’s take on Susie Salmon.
Hollywood Reporter
pressJackson and his team tell a fundamentally different story. It's one that is not without its tension, humor and compelling details. But it's also a simpler, more button-pushing tale that misses the joy and heartbreak of the original.
Empire Magazine
pressLike “The Lord Of The Rings,” The Lovely Bones does a fantastic job with revered, complex source material. As terrific on terra firma as it is audacious in its astral plane, it is doubtful we’ll see a more imaginative, courageous film in 2010.
Christchurch Press
pressI'll be honest, I'm in two minds about this one, I enjoyed the movie and some sections were classic Peter Jackson, but I was left feeling it could have been so much more.
Flicks, Andrew Hedley
flicksPeter Jackson’s extravagant adaptation of Alice Sebold’s novel doesn’t have quite the emotional impact one might hope for, namely due to the twin narrative strands of heartfelt family bonding and grisly serial killing remaining at odds with each other. Rather than leaving the cinema feeling uplifted, you might be creeped out.
Variety
pressJackson undermines solid work from a good cast with show-offy celestial evocations that severely disrupt the emotional connections with the characters.
Time Magazine
pressWhen else has the obscenity of child murder been the cause of such gravity and grace?
Rolling Stone
pressAll this is conveyed in the remarkable performance of Ronan, an Oscar nominee for Atonement. She and Tucci -- magnificent as a man of uncontrollable impulses -- help Jackson cut a path to a humanity that supersedes life and death.
Newshub
pressThe Lovely Bones wasn’t the five star wonder-movie I’d hoped for, but I left the cinema more than satisfied with Jackson’s take on Susie Salmon.
Hollywood Reporter
pressJackson and his team tell a fundamentally different story. It's one that is not without its tension, humor and compelling details. But it's also a simpler, more button-pushing tale that misses the joy and heartbreak of the original.
Empire Magazine
pressLike “The Lord Of The Rings,” The Lovely Bones does a fantastic job with revered, complex source material. As terrific on terra firma as it is audacious in its astral plane, it is doubtful we’ll see a more imaginative, courageous film in 2010.
Christchurch Press
pressI'll be honest, I'm in two minds about this one, I enjoyed the movie and some sections were classic Peter Jackson, but I was left feeling it could have been so much more.
What bones may come?
We've come to expect more of the director of BRAINDEAD and those little known Hobbit movies. Visually splendid, yet unengaging, this film version has none of the poer of the original novel. The CGI "heaven" scenes look like Robin Williams' oil painted paradise in WHAT DREAMS MAY COME (another Kiwi directed movie). Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz and...
The Lovely Bones
I read the book twice - the first time I hated it and the second time it grew on me. I was looking forward to seeing the movie, but felt some trepidation after hearing the test audience complain it was gory enough (I've seen Bad Taste - I was expecting the worst, especially of the murder.) I was however, very relieved. The depiction of Susie's heaven...
IS THIS HEAVEN OR IS THIS HELL?
Actually, it's limbo. Thirty minutes in and I knew I'd made a mistake. Not a lot was happening but like paint it took a long while to dry. No suspense. Well, how could there be? We already knew what was going to happen - we got it in voiceover! And visually it wasn't overly special. The scene in the field could have been a cracker, but it turned into a...
Don't Listen To Other People's Opinions
I was not going to see this after so much criticism.I am so glad I did. I thought it was a beautiful & quite emotional movie. Well done Peter jackson. There was no need for the death scene to be any more than it was; as some people wanted. I will never listen to other people's opinion when it comes to movies, especially PJ movies.
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