The Lovely Bones (2010)

Really Surprised!

Please don't spend money on this.

Amateur movie with Big budget

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

The Lovely Bones is a hard movie to watch, especially for parents. Peter Jackson does a great job of creating suspense and stressful situations, and Stanley Tucci is amazingly creepy. While the visuals were stunning, I felt that the filmmakers spent too much time showcasing how cool they could make things look. This movie was longer than it needed to be. Also, I wasn't satisfied with the conclusion of the film.

This is one of the most poorly directed films I've ever had the displeasure of watching. Please do not waste your time on this one. 2 hours and 15 minutes of Peter Jackson wasting a lot of money on CGI instead of developing a good plot line and developing a story.

About five or so years ago I had a go at reading 'The Lovely Bones'. I got about halfway through and decided it just wasn't for me. I like more of a mystery thriller than a book where everything is on the surface and it's more about dealing with the situation. I could see why people were so fond of it though. It was compelling and original. For some reason it's taken me this long to get around to seeing the movie. As a movie, I really enjoyed it. My gripes with it come from a logical point of view. Allow me to explain.My problem with the concept comes from the fact that the film very clearly puts forward that there is a God. Now that's all well and fine, after all thousands of films have done that over the years. Where my problem lies is that the movie demands there is a God, but also says he is willing to sit dormant while a child murderer/rapist leads a great life. I probably could have gotten past this gripe with the film if it wasn't for a scene near the end that really bothered me. It's during the death of said murderer/rapist. We see an icicle hanging from a tree, and as if a Devine intervention had come to be, a lightning bolt of sorts hits it and drops it on him forcing him to fall brutally off a cliff. The lightning bolt I speak of is the single worst part of this film. It implies that a higher power had the ability to do something all along and chose not to. I didn't like that at all.That aside, the rest of the film I quite enjoyed. I understand that they left a lot of things out from the book to make it more teenage friendly, and to me that was a shame, because the film could have been something great with those in it I suspect. Still, the film decided what it was and stuck to it, so fair play. There's some thought-provoking dialogue and it is a film that will stick with you after the credits roll. Life is a fragile and precious thing, and that fact can easily be forgotten. Film's like this remind you that life is short and needs to be cherished. Any film that does that is worth watching in my opinion.

Kudos to the set designer and location people. I grew up in Norristown, Pennsylvania shortly after the time that the story would have taken place. According to the book, that was the approximate location of where the story takes place. Everything in the set design and location is spot on as to what it looked like during that time frame. It was incredibly eerie because there is a farm across the street from the High School (Norristown Area HS)and a field where all of the dark parts of the story take place. They really did their homework and did a fabulous job of re-creating the setting of the story. Parts of the movie were shot in towns around Norristown/West Norriton, which really paints a picture of what the area looked like back then. Thanks for re-creating a part of the past and showing off my hometown (even though it is a fictional story).