The Lovely Bones

Ok I admit it, I've been hopeless at updating my blog recently. Work has been crazy using up my daily allocation of brain cells. As a result I had very little left over to use in my personal life. There have been many spare moments where I could be found drooling and staring at the wall. It's nice to escape that particular circle of hell!

But that is enough with the excuses and on to the blogging. Tonight I went to see The Lovely Bones, I was lucky enough to get tickets to the Australian premiere. I do enjoy sashaying up a red carpet, so I was ready for a great night out. The lovely Natalie Meadows joined me, which made for a good mix of impressions as she hasn't read the book while I have.

I remember that I loved the book by Alice Sebold but my memories of the specifics are hazy as I read it many years ago. All I could remember was a general sense of what happened & most importantly how the book made me feel (sad, frustrated, inspired). So I won't be able to say if it was true to the details of the book, but it was definitely true to the emotions.

The casting is inspired. Particularly Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon, Stanley Tucci as George Harvey and Susan Sarandon as Grandma Lynn. Their performances were phenomenal & while I single them out I really don't feel that any of the cast put a toe, let alone a foot, wrong.

Peter Jackson's vision for the film was striking. He really threw the full breadth of his mammoth imagination into creating the "in between world" that Susie finds herself in. Saying that, it is probably that one element that polarised Natalie and I. I really enjoyed the visual trip that was created but Natalie felt that it was a bit too much. I can see her point, there were moments when those in-between-world scenes did feel a tad self indulgent on the part of Jackson, however the visuals are so lush and stunning that it is a self indulgence we can all enjoy if we let ourselves go with it.

As I write this post The Lovely Bones has a very healthy 8.2 score on IMDB. I think this is a very well deserved high score as I really was inspired by so many aspects of this film. Not for those that want a "cookie cutter" (to quote Jackson) movie, but perfect if you want to really enjoy a wide spectrum of emotions.

I cried several times across the course of the film, but whenever I felt that it was just too sad, something would happen to change the mood. The arrival of Grandma Lynn is a perfect example of this. I was laughing with the tears still fresh on my cheeks.

A beautiful, cathartic film. I give it a 9/10. Go see it when it appears at cinemas near you (well if you want to, I'm not threatening you or anything)