| The Lovely Bones | |
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Given the talent attached, which extends beyond director Peter Jackson and into such talents as Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon and Tucci, and the amount of support for the book you might expect big things. If you do, you'll be brought down to earth with a bump. The concept is an interesting one. An ordinary young teenager is tragically torn from her family when she is attacked and killed by a paedophile: and this is just the beginning. Shifting between her soul (trapped in a kind of limbo) and those she left behind, we follow the aftermath of her untimely death. The execution is laughably poor. And when I say laughably, I mean sickeningly. With subject matter this serious and, for the vast majority, distressing, it is appalling to see this group of painfully one-dimensional ciphers meander listlessly around on screen. Mark Wahlberg's bereaved father never goes beyond the obsessive bereavement stage, displaying no nuances to the bog-standard 'I'm so angry' response. Rachel Weisz is the tortured mother, not coping properly and receiving no support from her disturbed husband. Meanwhile, Susan Sarandon is shoe-horned in as a comedy granny whose main task seems to be an utterly inappropriate comedy montage which, whilst apparently seeking to show that 'life goes on', serves merely to destroy any chance of an emotional connection with this story. Ironically, this mess of characters is the closest this film comes to a real  depiction of limbo. While they bumble around in their pointless, banal and frequently inexplicable lives their deceased young relative is consigned to a piece of CGI that is not just poorly rendered, but ill-conceived but utterly bizarre. Occasionally similar to the Himalayas, sometimes kitsch 1930s Americana and frequently a five-year-old's attempt to merge Freudian imagery with surrealist art, Peter Jackson's 'limbo' is the epitome of idiocy.The only redeeming factor in this film is that occasionally it is so stupid that it's funny. X's unnecessary love-interest is a ridiculous caricature of a romantic teen, acted in such an overly affected manner that I couldn't shake the smell of bacon for several days. You have to laugh. Equally stupid is X's mistrust of a weird companion she meets in limbo (yes, it seems you can make friends in limbo): she willingly follows a creepy looking paedo to her death, but mistrusts a young girl when she's already dead? Seriously?! Perhaps the most frustrating element of the film is how poorly it finishes. I think it's safe to warn you, without giving away too much, that the end is not in any way, shape or form satisfying. The cod-philosophical musings that are supposed to make everything OK fail miserably, and the loose ends are tied in the most ham-fisted way possible.  To conclude, I think it fair to share the wisdom that finishes off the film so that you genuinely don't miss out by avoiding it:1) Never follow a paedophile into a cornfield, you'll either be raped or mistaken for a sex pest and beaten up by a high school boy. 2) If you are a paedophile, make sure you kill more than once, at least that way your victims won't be lonely in the afterlife. 3) Paedophiles ALWAYS lurk in the shadows, police should check there every time they're suspicious. 4) It doesn't matter if criminals aren't ever brought to justice, as long as they die at some point. Rating: * Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci Director: Peter Jackson Run time: 135 mins Certificate: 12A Release date: 19th September 2009 Review by Michael Edwards
For a truly poignant and beautiful film, try A Single Man. If (and I hope this isn't the case) you enjoy horrific films about child abuse, Precious is of much higher quality. |
Peter Jackson's adaptation of the popular, and somewhat controversial, novel of the same name has been anticipated for some time. It was green-lighted with a hefty budget, and has had much time and attention lavished upon it before finally being set free to roam the UK's cinemas.
