Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch could have written a better adaptation than these screenwriters did.
The Lovely Bones
starring Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon
directed by Peter Jackson
Alice Sebold’s tragically beautiful novel The Lovely Bones hit the reading scene like a nuclear bomb. It was refreshing, stunningly heartfelt, and grappled with some pretty serious material rather well. As with most successful books, it didn’t surprise that rights to make the film were bought up quickly. Plus, with someone like Peter Jackson set to direct, it was definitely something to be looking forward to. However, the filmmakers had a huge task on their hands from the get go; the true story and meaning of The Lovely Bones would be quite a difficult task to translate successfully to the big screen. As we all know, hit books don’t always make hit films.
Susie Salmon (Ronan) is an average fourteen year old girl; she loves photography, she is developing her first crush for a boy named Ray, and she is quite naive. Little known to Susie and her family, a man in the neighborhood named Mr. Harvey (Tucci) has been spying on her. In a horrifically simple manner, Mr. Harvey coaxes Susie into a trap, rapes her, and then murders her. Susie wakes up in purgatory; what she calls the Inbetween. She realizes the way her life ended has ledft her with unfinished business and no goodbyes to her family. So, so watches her killer and her family and does her best to communicate across the barrier. Her Dad Jack (Wahlberg) and Mom Abigail (Weisz) search endlessly for her until police come to the conclusion that she has been killed. Abigail chooses to run away from the problem by leaving her family. However, when the search for Susie ends for Jack, the search for her murder begins. Somehow the Salmon family must find a way to reconcile with the loss of Susie, and Susie’s spirit must find a way to let go and pass on.
The acting is probably the greatest triumph of this film. Saoirse Ronan gained fame from 2008’s Best Picture nominee Atonement, and she definitely doesn’t disappointhere. She displays the playful youth of a child while Susie is alive, but she can also carry the weight of deeper knowledge once Susie is dead. For someone as young as she is, she dealt with this difficult role very well. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz do nothing particularly special, but Susan Sarandon plays a great supporting role as the quirky grandmother. Stanley Tucci, however, performs what I believe to be the role of his career. His performance of Mr. Harvey bothsickens and impresses. In the scene where Harvey is attempting to ensnare Susie, you can feel the deception and evil burning through the calm and trustworthy face. Tucci is disturbingly masterful in the role, and deserves at least a nomination for best supporting actor.
Peter Jackson is truly a talented director. Every sequence is shot beautifully, from the cold darkness of the real world to the bold clarity of Susie’s heaven. The heaven sequences are grand, colorful, and intricately detailed. Susie bounces back and forth between wheat fields, mountains, lakes, and scenes from her life. Yet when we see the life of Mr. Harvey, the tone turns dark and brooding. Jackson is a master at telling a story without words and it is as evident as ever in The Lovely Bones.
Unfortunately, telling the story without words wasn’t all the film needed. It also needed a good interpretation on the novel, which it lacked. I’d go as far as to say the script writers failed the entire production. Alice Sebold wove the story together with tiny connections between each character and how they reacted to Susie’s interference from beyond. The ‘lovely bones’ are simultaneously Susie’s unfound body, and the individuals of the family she left behind. Through the tragedy, the family must overcome their sorrow and different ways of coping to move on, while at the same time Susie had to let all of them go, too. Instead, the writers made the film about actually finding the killer and bringing him to justice. So much of the characters’ stories, especially the other daughter and the mother, get left out. Others’ roles, like the father and the younger brother, are misconstrued. What you get is an extremely unsatisfying story that seems rather hopelessly pointless and depressing by the end. The writers missed the point in the interpretation, which in turn makes the audience wonder what the point ever was.
Bravo for trying, Mr. Jackson, but The Lovely Bones just didn’t quite come together. It gives no closure, and no real reason to sit through the awful events that take place. I’d recommend just buying the book and reading it if you want to know what the film is about. I can only imagine seeing the film without knowing the story; it would do nothing but make me uncomfortable, paranoid, and frankly pissed off. It is a beautiful film, though, through both the wonderful perfomances by those involved and the incredibley shot sequences. Its just that the epic failure to piece this story together makes a part of me want to say that the book is unadaptable, and should never have been attempted in the first place.
Introducing a Creepy Stanley Tucci
Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch could have written a better adaptation than these screenwriters did.
The Lovely Bones
starring Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon
directed by Peter Jackson
Alice Sebold’s tragically beautiful novel The Lovely Bones hit the reading scene like a nuclear bomb. It was refreshing, stunningly heartfelt, and grappled with some pretty serious material rather well. As with most successful books, it didn’t surprise that rights to make the film were bought up quickly. Plus, with someone like Peter Jackson set to direct, it was definitely something to be looking forward to. However, the filmmakers had a huge task on their hands from the get go; the true story and meaning of The Lovely Bones would be quite a difficult task to translate successfully to the big screen. As we all know, hit books don’t always make hit films.
Susie Salmon (Ronan) is an average fourteen year old girl; she loves photography, she is developing her first crush for a boy named Ray, and she is quite naive. Little known to Susie and her family, a man in the neighborhood named Mr. Harvey (Tucci) has been spying on her. In a horrifically simple manner, Mr. Harvey coaxes Susie into a trap, rapes her, and then murders her. Susie wakes up in purgatory; what she calls the Inbetween. She realizes the way her life ended has ledft her with unfinished business and no goodbyes to her family. So, so watches her killer and her family and does her best to communicate across the barrier. Her Dad Jack (Wahlberg) and Mom Abigail (Weisz) search endlessly for her until police come to the conclusion that she has been killed. Abigail chooses to run away from the problem by leaving her family. However, when the search for Susie ends for Jack, the search for her murder begins. Somehow the Salmon family must find a way to reconcile with the loss of Susie, and Susie’s spirit must find a way to let go and pass on.
The acting is probably the greatest triumph of this film. Saoirse Ronan gained fame from 2008’s Best Picture nominee Atonement, and she definitely doesn’t disappointhere. She displays the playful youth of a child while Susie is alive, but she can also carry the weight of deeper knowledge once Susie is dead. For someone as young as she is, she dealt with this difficult role very well. Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz do nothing particularly special, but Susan Sarandon plays a great supporting role as the quirky grandmother. Stanley Tucci, however, performs what I believe to be the role of his career. His performance of Mr. Harvey bothsickens and impresses. In the scene where Harvey is attempting to ensnare Susie, you can feel the deception and evil burning through the calm and trustworthy face. Tucci is disturbingly masterful in the role, and deserves at least a nomination for best supporting actor.
Peter Jackson is truly a talented director. Every sequence is shot beautifully, from the cold darkness of the real world to the bold clarity of Susie’s heaven. The heaven sequences are grand, colorful, and intricately detailed. Susie bounces back and forth between wheat fields, mountains, lakes, and scenes from her life. Yet when we see the life of Mr. Harvey, the tone turns dark and brooding. Jackson is a master at telling a story without words and it is as evident as ever in The Lovely Bones.
Unfortunately, telling the story without words wasn’t all the film needed. It also needed a good interpretation on the novel, which it lacked. I’d go as far as to say the script writers failed the entire production. Alice Sebold wove the story together with tiny connections between each character and how they reacted to Susie’s interference from beyond. The ‘lovely bones’ are simultaneously Susie’s unfound body, and the individuals of the family she left behind. Through the tragedy, the family must overcome their sorrow and different ways of coping to move on, while at the same time Susie had to let all of them go, too. Instead, the writers made the film about actually finding the killer and bringing him to justice. So much of the characters’ stories, especially the other daughter and the mother, get left out. Others’ roles, like the father and the younger brother, are misconstrued. What you get is an extremely unsatisfying story that seems rather hopelessly pointless and depressing by the end. The writers missed the point in the interpretation, which in turn makes the audience wonder what the point ever was.
Bravo for trying, Mr. Jackson, but The Lovely Bones just didn’t quite come together. It gives no closure, and no real reason to sit through the awful events that take place. I’d recommend just buying the book and reading it if you want to know what the film is about. I can only imagine seeing the film without knowing the story; it would do nothing but make me uncomfortable, paranoid, and frankly pissed off. It is a beautiful film, though, through both the wonderful perfomances by those involved and the incredibley shot sequences. Its just that the epic failure to piece this story together makes a part of me want to say that the book is unadaptable, and should never have been attempted in the first place.