I never read the novel, so that might be the reason I'm not as critical as most when it comes to The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson as many critics have now said, may not have been the perfect fit for this movie. He is a wonderful visual director, but his vision of the in-between feels out oddly out of place. The CGI is well done and quite beautiful, but it did nothing more than distract me from the characters that I was beginning to care about. Thankfully these sequences were just short enough to not ruin the experience. The acting was pretty solid. Mark Wahlberg is often hit or miss, but he was suprisingly believable here. Susan Sarandon provided some offbeat humor and Rachel Weisz was decent, even though her role was thinly written. The two standouts were Saorise Ronan and Stanley Tucci. I see a big career in the future for this young actress. There is something about her that grabs and holds your attention. Stanley Tucci was creepy to the core, though I find it hard to believe that anyone would think he was normal. The way he looked and interacted with people should have sent up major red flags. There were two scenes of suspense involving his character that were well executed. The music hit the right emotional notes when needed and the story itself proved horrific enough to make a strong impact on me.

The Lovely Bones is getting bashed way too heavily by most critics. I know it has its share a flaws, but the fact that I was thinking about the film all the way home from the theater shows the true power it possesses if you go in with an open mind.

3 and 1/2 out of 5 stars

I'm a fan of the book this movie is based on, and although Peter Jackson took some liberties with the story, the result was an emotional and visually stunning film. "The Lovely Bones" tells the story of Suzie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old girl who is murdered by a neighborhood predator (Stanley Tucci). As the Salmon family copes with their tragedy, Susie's spirit hovers in the "in-between" that exists between heaven and Earth. Unable to let go of her previous life, Susie keeps a watchful eye on her family and her murderer, hoping that justice will ultimately be served and that she and her loved ones can finally move on.

I appreciated that the film didn't show Susie's violent murder on screen, which would have been extremely disturbing. The film does a fantastic job of portraying Susie in her in-between world, which is beautiful to watch. I wish Susan Sarandon was given more screen time, because she is hilarious in her role as the drunk grandmother. Tucci gives a terrifying portrayal of a child killer, and Ronan's performance as Susie is very understated and sincere.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie very much.

Some drama films are the kind that you feel emotional resonance for the characters, feel mildly engaged by the plot, think about it for a few seconds after leaving the theater, get into your car, get pissed off at a stupid driver, and quickly move back into your own life. The Lovely Bones isn't that kind of movie.

Director Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings and King Kong fame, doesn't seem like the most obvious choice to direct the adaptation of the seemingly untouchable Alice Sebold novel, but he does his best, by staying close to the source material, but occasionally taking things out here and there. He also brings alot of ah-mazing CGI shots that are so gorgeous, they may be worth the price of admission alone, and I doubt we would've had that type of a movie if anybody else had directed it. However, you get the feeling that Jackson paid too much attention to the CGI aspect, while he could've dealt with the center plot issue with more directorial sensitivity, mocking the same way the book was written, and that's what stops this from being a perfect movie.

The plot centers around Susie Salmon (played by Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered in 1973. Ronan was absolutely perfect in this role. She showed promise in the 2007 film Atonement, where she also played a terrified youth who is dealing with an unbelievable situation. In the film, Susie is watching over her family, the boy she was in love with, and her killer -- from her own personal heaven.

Stanley Tucci nails his role, playing the demented serial killer Mr. Harvey. He gives a particularly chilling, and uncannily believable performance, showing more versatility with every film he makes, you can tell that he really got lost in this role, because his part isn't one of those where you find yourself wondering what the actor has previously starred in -- you see his character, and he does a damn fine job at it.

Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon play Susie's family, and each of those roles require the actor to display quite alot of emotion, grieving her loss, and they all do terrific work, causing you to feel the extreme remorse that their characters do, and I really don't know if better actors could have been selected to play the respective parts.

Nikki SooHoo plays Holly, a girl who Susie meets in heaven, another victim of Mr. Harvey. Her role is particularly memorable, serving as something of a reassuring voice to the Ronan's character, and I see her doing great things in her future, because, while being an unknown actress, she shows just as much talent as the other actors in this all-star cast.

The core of this movie, however, the reason to go and see it in a packed theatre, doesn't lie in its acting, or the writing, or even the direction. It lies in the story. We've all wondered what happens to us after we die. The Lovely Bones suggests that we go to a world that we think is perfect, but we're still haunted by the things that troubled us in our lives. And while the movie leaves you heartbroken, wanting to spend every day you have on this earth as your last, it leaves you pondering your own life, the significance of it, how you'll be remembered. And that's something I particularly like in a film, when it not only moves you to the point where tears are flooding your eyes, but when it leaves you with a great deal of psychological issues to ponder, about your own life, and what comes after your life is ultimately over. And that's what The Lovely Bones does. And while staying true to the source material, that's all a fan of this story can ask for.