Wednesday, April 21, 2010

The Lovely Bones (DVD)

The Lovely Bones (2009) starring Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci. Directed by Peter Jackson. Ronan plays Susie Salmon, the 14-year-old girl who is murdered early in the movie. We, the viewers, know how it happened and we know who did it: George Harvey (Tucci), a solitary man who lives in the neighborhood. Two questions arise: One, does the movie work as a movie, and two, does the movie live up to the book? The answer to the first question is, Pretty well, and the answer to the second question is, Not quite. There's a whole subplot that involves Sarandon as the crazy, alcoholic grandmother who comes to "help" -- which is amusing enough, but the movie could have done without her. Major changes have been made to the book -- characters have been added, and Susie has a romantic interest. More importantly, the film just can't capture the complexity of emotion that is experienced in reading the book. The subtitles are very good. Grade: B

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