The Lovely Bones - 2009

Peter Jackson (CrazyHeart, Avatar)

Saoirse Ronan

Rachel Weisz

I will never be like that man.

Those are the words that came to my mind after viewing this.  Because that man and myself are about as far apart as the poles, and as far as east from west. 

God has blessed me with the gift of grace, and goodness, and a heart that loves that which is lovely, and I could no more hurt one of these little ones than I could take out my own heart and watch it beat.

The lovely bones stare back at us from this work, of all those that have cried from the grave against their murderers, and I’m sure they will suffer more than a little tumble over a cliff.

I don’t think there was one misplaced emotion in this film.  It is a recollection piece, of hope mostly, for those that have lost a child, or a young loved one, especially a lost young one that would never be recovered, and most without ever having the satisfaction of finding out who had done it in the end, the strange neighbor, the best friend of the family that moved away one day without warning, the butler, the janitor, the Senator, the lover…

The special effects only augmented the sense of this story, and did not overcrowd it.  The human element was preserved and not overshadowed by the visions of heaven.  You must really appreciate Peter Jackson for this.  They were in fact stupendous, well done, well placed.  And they were numerous, almost a third of the film or more.  But yet they never overshadowed the reality of the family that lay at the center of the tragedy, the stages of relational stress that the couple went through, the resentment, then the abandonment, the loss of love and innocence.  The stress and strain in relations was abrupt, appropriate, realistic, and finally, relieved in the center by the invited relative, Mother-In-Law-In-Charge.  Susan Sarandon was flawless as the bewitching, hapless, crisis caretaker Mother, who in the end also changes, it would seem to be much, much more stable, enduring, and responsible than you would guess.  Oh, and comedy relief, much needed in this tragedy.

It was all there, played out very nicely for us with cinematic bravado.  And it was also not preachy, or religiously offensive.  It leaves room in the end for belief and truth in the end, without excluding anyone, except the hardened atheist perhaps.   Hope seems to be a great hallmark of Peter’s films, the Lord of the Rings being a good example of the very same, the Grey Havens not only in Tolkein’s mind, but realized in the film version as well.  This is not just fluff, or aspirin for the wounded soul.  It’s a real hope built on the idea that love and relationships, especially between a father and a daughter, can reach back even from the grave and make things right again.

The power of the bond of human relations is upheld by this film, and I strongly recommend it for everyone who is old enough to deal with images and the characterization of the reality of death, and especially gruesome types of death and the threat of death at the hands of a villainous creature like the neighbor.  So I’d say 18 or older could understand this, if properly prepared.  It’s heart-wrenching stuff, and not for the emotionally immature however, or the innocent among us, for it presents themes which if seen much too early, could cause fear, instead of comfort, and maybe even fear of the normal neighbor.  I like the fact that we started with a normal neighbor as suspicious and we find out quickly that he was only a bit odd, but loved his daughter, who died of Leukemia.  This took some of the edge off right away, while still suspending the mystery.  I also love the fact that it was not “all about the bad man”.  It was about the love relationship between the parent, and the lost one, and the results of the family, and not just a sagging drama about the horrors of a serial killer.  Yes, the facts were all there, but they were bound up in the narration and discovery journey of the main character.  The plot of the killer and his heinous trail is only revealed as Susie Salmon is ready to receive it.

Great stuff, both the writing, and the cinema.