Dvd
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.
Starring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci, Rose McIver
Directed by Peter Jackson ('Badtaste', 'Meet the Feebles', 'Braindead', 'Heavenly Creatures', 'The Frighteners', 'Lord of the Rings' trilogy, 'King Kong')
Written by Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens (based on the novel by Alice Sebold)
Executive Producers Steven Spielberg, Ken Kamins, Tessa Ross, Jim Wilson
Thriller, Drama, Adaptation | 2hr 15mins | Rated (M) | contains violence | Origin: USA, UK, New Zealand | Official Site »
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Flicks review
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3
Peter 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.
The material has Jackson’s fingerprints all over it; bold camera movements, traces of horror and a showman’s gift for staging sequences. Jackson’s penchant for black humour means that psychopathic villain Mr Harvey (Stanley Tucci in “I’m a paedophile” makeup) is the most charismatic character. At times Jackson ratchets up the macabre, particularly effectively in an amazing sequence revealing the resting places of previous murder victims.
But it’s the overly calculated attempt at wringing out drama from the proceedings that feels phoney. Wahlberg and Weisz are given undeveloped roles, while lead character Susie narrates the happenings on earth with cloying earnestness. As it’s his interpretation of the source material, Jackson apes Vincent Ward’s What Dreams May Come in a highly computerised and slightly naff tableau of dreamscapes; part teletubbies, part NZ tourism advertisement.
Brian Eno’s plinkety-plonk keyboard soundtrack is relentless but the inclusion of songs from the ‘70s period is awesome. The Lovely Bones might have benefitted from a lighter touch but kudos to Jackson for trying something on a smaller, more personal, scale. His visually imaginative but emotionally under-developed drama at least strikes a unique tone.
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The people's reviews
34 reviews
Press Reviews
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Christchurch Press (Tracey Bond)
3
I'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.
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Dominion Post (Graeme Tuckett)
It's fair to say that this is a quality bit of work.
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Empire Magazine (UK)
4
Like “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.
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Hollywood Reporter
Jackson 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.
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Rolling Stone (USA)
All 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.
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Time Magazine
When else has the obscenity of child murder been the cause of such gravity and grace?
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TV3 (Kate Rodger)
4
The 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.
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Variety (USA)
Jackson undermines solid work from a good cast with show-offy celestial evocations that severely disrupt the emotional connections with the characters.
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ViewAuckland.co.nz (Matt Turner)
2
Despite a strong central performance from Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones is a bloated, over-indulgent and frequently dull drama that never really comes to life.
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