I must say it was not easy to get a hold of this movie! First, I went to the video store on the day I thought it was going to finally be available. I found out that there was an issue with the distribution and that the release was being postponed (at least that’s what Blockbuster said). I came back a few days later in hopes that it would be there but there were only two copies and two people must have been in the right place at the right time because it was rented out. What a tease! Needless to say, I got a chance to know the Blockbuster staff pretty well since I haunted them almost every day until… there it was!
After a whole season’s worth of anticipation, I’m embarrassed to admit that The Lovely Bones did not live up to my expectations. I expected a film that would contain a shock factor, especially since we were dealing with the death of a young teenager. I expected to cry as I empathized with her grieving parents. I assumed that the tragedy that occurs in the film would be enough to make me want to jump through the screen and fight for this young girl, not to mention pray for the safety of her sister who was now also in harm’s way. I hoped that Mark Wahlberg’s acting would surprise me and that I’d be able to see Rachel Weisz as an actor that can do well outside of your typical adventure movie. I expected Stanley Tucci to be great simply because I love him.
I don’t want to completely slam this film because it had a few moments. The cinematography was bursting with color and fantasy as we watched the girl’s confused journey in the afterlife. The way the director connected her ability to sense what was happening in reality with her family was interesting. I was hoping for more of a ghost type of connection where the parents would have more of a chance to be in touch with their daughter, providing them with a smoother transition to letting her go but that would be more unrealistic than the path the director chose. The director made the film more believable by not allowing the family tangible contact with the girl after she has moved on from this earth. The scenes in the afterlife seemed over the top but who’s to say that it won’t be like that? Those scenes were the only clips that required us to use our imagination. The rest was pretty straight forward and unfortunately much less affecting than you would think.
All I have to say is, Staney Tucci, where have you been? He exceeded my already high expectations. His acting was completely flawless. It was in very good taste that they changed his appearance and I believe that this idea is a breakthrough for actors and directors. No one should offer their impeccable acting to any film in which they’d be playing a child molester if they don’t want to be looked at in a new, negative light. Audiences would most likely have this view of the actor until that actor took on a new role powerful enough to help them forget. Changing Tucci’s appearance was genius for his persona and for this role. I can’t wait to see him in another film. This was the break he needed to truly expose his skills as a great actor. Thinking back on Oscar night when they announced his name as a nominee, you could see the look of shame emanating from his face that he was nominated for a role like this. He almost seemed humiliated. That alone made me more drawn to him as a person.
Rachel Weisz barely spoke through the whole movie and her role was a total wash. What a shame that they give the mother of this girl about five minutes in the entire movie to show her emotions. Mark Wahlberg was, well, Mark Wahlberg. He almost made it, but is still not believable enough to play the role of a very angry and grieving father. Susan Sarandon’s role should have never existed in the first place. Her role as the uncaring, alcoholic, pill-popping grandmother was ridiculous and contributed nothing to the film. This of course has nothing to do with her acting and everything to do with the executive decisions in the process of making the movie. Saoirse Ronan’s acting was passable but I was hoping for ten times more emotion from a fourteen-year-old girl who just realizes that her life is over and the world beyond is out of her control. I don’t think it was her fault because it seemed like her role was intended to be much simpler than it should have been.
Overall, the movie lacked emotion, Stanley Tucci stole the show, you’d never know Rachel Weisz was in the movie and Mark Wahlberg’s acting was a half notch better than it was in Shayamalan’s The Happening (which is not saying much). You might enjoy this movie if you can deal with a huge tragedy being toned down to the core and made into a very simple movie. The one good thing about this film is that it may reach out to teenage girls and make the possibility of being abducted more realistic, in turn helping them make safer choices.
What would I do different? The Lovely Bones could have been a great movie if it were much deeper and a tinge darker. I would probably start by giving the parent’s roles to Ryan Reynolds and Kate Winslet. I would keep the cinematography and afterlife scenes but I would have the girl’s spirit around the family more often. I would add more of a struggle and invest more time in the abduction scene to aggravate the general audience into wanting revenge. I’d then delve into the childhood of the molester and make the audience feel sad for his experiences. Viewers would question their morals and weigh good against evil throughout much of the movie. I would have “good” be the winner at the end of this film due to its dark content. That’s just my take.
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