Search - The Lovely Bones on DVD

Amber C. from EAGLE POINT, OR
Reviewed on 11/5/2011...

I thought this movie was about a girls spirit who helps guide her dad to catching her killer. I think this movie got a little out there and wasn't at all what I thought it was. The first half was pretty good...a little slow but good. the 2nd half was a little strange. All in all it was good...not great by any means.

2 of 5 member(s) found this review helpful.

Lori L. (lorifoxb) from LAGUNA BEACH, CA
Reviewed on 1/10/2011...

Worst Book to Movie Adaption I have seen in my life. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME! I so enjoyed the book and so HATED the movie!!! The Director Insulted us all with his adaption!!! Shame on him!

2 of 7 member(s) found this review helpful.

Hannah H. (Apollyn)
Reviewed on 12/8/2010...

I tend to read a lot of reviews before I watch a movie. To my surprise most of the ones for this movie are quite negative. Through the first hour to hour and a half of this film I kept thinking "How is this rated so low? I'm definitely rating a 5!" But then I was shown why.

The story starts to become convoluted and completely unsatisfying. Some of the actions of the characters seemed out of place and a few of the scenes could have been completely left out. With those it was almost like they added the scene as a filler.

However, The Lovely Bones did keep my attention the whole time. With most movies I watch I'm usually multi tasking, but with this one I completely stopped everything I was doing to pay attention and be absorbed by it.

Another thing I quite like is that it ties up all the loose ends and answers all the questions pretty well without having to come right out and say it. A lot of things are implied in this movie, or said in a different way with the narrative.

Overall I'd give this movie 3 and 1/2 stars. It had a strong beginning with me, but sadly trailed off into disappointment. I'd recommend it to anyone who is interested in the supernatural and with what happens to us when we die. You also have to be able to tolerate the drama genre as well.

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Lewis P. (Turfseer) from NEW YORK, NY
Reviewed on 12/5/2010...

Clever special effects can't save laughable tale of teenager's demise and sojourn through limbo-like netherworld

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

The 'Lovely Bones' reminds me of the film 'Ghost' in that the protagonist has been murdered and now exists in a limbo-like nether world. In both films, the protagonist has 'unfinished business' not only in terms of resolving conflict with a principal love interest but also ensuring that the person who murdered them gets his just desserts.

In Ghost, Patrick Swayze's 'Sam Wheat' is tormented by the fact that he never told girlfriend Molly that he loved her. He gets that opportunity at the end of the film when he inhabits the body of Oda Mae Brown, a spiritualist. Similarly, in the The Lovely Bones, Susie Salmon is tormented by the fact that she never got that first teenage kiss from Ray Singh, her handsome Anglo-Indian high school chum. Susie also gets to inhabit someone else's body, in this case Ruth Connors, a neighborhood girl who also possesses psychic powers. But whereas the relationship between Sam and Mollie is decidedly developed and resolved in a quite satisfying manner, the resolution of Susie's angst over the missed kiss is nothing more than mere puppy love.

Ghost is also far more satisfying in terms of drama since Sam actively pursues his killer by tormenting him through various means including levitating inanimate objects in his direction . He also communicates with the living, aided by his trusted ally, Oda Mae. Susie, on the other hand, can do little to bother her murderer, George Harvey (the twisted serial killer, well-played by Stanley Tucci). Occasionally she startles him (he catches a glimpse of a shadow inside his garage which appears to be that of Susie riding her bicycle). And when Susie finally does get the opportunity to communicate with Ray, instead of telling him to warn her parents about Harvey, she is merely content to obtain the kiss she missed out on before she was murdered.

Susie is truly stuck in limbo since she has no external arc to resolve. Her conflicts are not with the survivors on earth but within her own mind. In addition to obtaining the kiss from Ray, she also must face the reality of the nature of her demise. Director Peter Jackson pulls out all the stops with his CGI effects, depicting Susie's gradual triumph over her own fears, taking in the history of Harvey's murderous forays. Jackson is perhaps most creative when he offers up the nightmare scene (a la Stephen King) where Susie learns of the fate of each of Harvey's victims.

Even if one is impressed with all those beautiful special effects in the nether world, the machinations back on earth are strictly soap opera. There is not enough space to catalog the absurdities of the Lovely Bones plot, but I'll mention a few here: 1) Instead of phoning the police, 14 year old Susie, who obviously doesn't know how to drive, plays hero by driving her brother, a choking victim, to the hospital; 2) Harvey constructs an underground den in a clear field and no one notices what he's doing 3) Susie is missing a scant few hours but instead of waiting for the police, her father runs outside, hands out flyers like an idiot, believing that somehow that's the best strategy for finding his missing daughter; 4) Susie's father, who has been hounding the investigating detective for not doing a good enough job in finding his daughter, delays the investigation by not developing all of Susie's film all at once. Instead, he wants to 'honor her memory' by developing one roll each month at a time; 5) Instead of staying with her children like a normal mother, Susie's mother, Abigail, abandons the family and goes off to pick fruit on a fruit farm; 6) Grandma Lynn (played by an over the top Susan Sarandon), can think of nothing better to do but drink copious amounts of alcohol while the family needs a strong parental figure to hold things together; 7) Susie's vigilante Dad goes after Harvey with a baseball bat despite having no evidence whatsoever (except a hunch) that he's responsible for his daughter's murder; 8) Harvey somehow loads that heavy safe into this car and makes a fast getaway but later can barely drag the safe with the help of another man a few yards where he finally disposes of it in a ditch.

Perhaps the most ludicrous part of the plot is sister Lindsey's decision to break into Harvey's house where she finds the incriminating journal. How can Detective Fenerman possibly go after Harvey since the evidence was obtained illegally? After learning that Lindsey had broken into Harvey's house, wouldn't he have been obligated to arrest her? And wouldn't the journal have been inadmissible evidence in a court of law? Certainly no Judge would have given Detective Fenerman a search warrant to enter Harvey's house on the basis of illegally obtained evidence!

In the end, The Lovely Bones has the dubious distinction of turning the story of the murder of a 14 year old girl into a comforting tale of reassurance. The full horror of the murder itself is reduced to a series of creepy Stephen King-like horror scenes and the victim somehow 'triumphs' when she finds the courage (in an illusory limbo) to overcome her fears at looking at the reality of her demise.

Further reassurance comes in the form of a comeuppance for the evil serial killer. Unlike the book where the killer is not apprehended, nature (or even God perhaps) conveniently has an icicle drop on the shoulder of the villain, where he is promptly dispatched by falling over the side of a cliff.

Despite the clever special effects, for those who are not completely convinced of the overall ludicrousness of this flick, please consult the IMDb message board under the topic, "100 things we've learned from the Lovely Bones Movie". It's a thread that should leave you in stitches!

2 of 3 member(s) found this review helpful.

Andrea S. (asilvey) from ORLANDO, FL
Reviewed on 7/10/2010...

This movie stunk! It was good up to the end where there was no justice! In my opinion there was no closure! Her soul was left hanging in the balance! The ending totally stunk royally in my opinion! I want my 136 minutes back!!!

0 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Jeanne S. (ijeanne) from FORT THOMAS, AZ
Reviewed on 4/21/2010...

This movie was strong, with an engaging plot and good acting. I was totally creeped out by Stanley Tucci's character. However, I felt like it could have had a stronger ending...it seemed rather weak compared to the intensity of the rest of the story. Definitely worth renting, but I'm not sure it's worth buying.

1 of 1 member(s) found this review helpful.