February 14, 2010: The Lovely Bones
The Lovely Bones is one of those movies that seems to have a fair bit of buzz surrounding it, but nobody has seen it or even really knows what it’s about. A brief theatrical run and an Oscar nomination for Stanley Tucci’s supporting performance may not give it any legs in the theatres, but will help it out on home video. Tucci is very unlikely to win the award, but the recognition for this underappreciated actor is good to see.
Set in 1973, Saoirse Ronan plays a teenage girl who is lured into a trap and murdered by a neighbour. I’m not spoiling anything for you here, since she announces this in the opening scenes of the film. She is evidently telling us this from somewhere halfway to the afterlife, because she hasn’t been released yet to go all the way to heaven or wherever. Continuing on from my previous film, this is wonderful material for Valentine’s Day. The Half-Assed Movie Reviews reader may wonder about my wife’s appetite for this increased pace of movie watching through the first part of the year for Oscar purposes, but I don’t go so far as to insist that she actually watch the harrowing stuff with me.
I won’t go too much further into the plot of the film, but it’s an original and intriguing story. However, the supernatural/mystical elements of it don’t particularly appeal to me, so I can’t really do it justice in my description. The eventual message is nice, that the strengthening of existing relationships and the new ones kindled by the girl’s death provide some value to the world.
The film is directed by Peter Jackson, a household name as director of the Lord of the Rings films but otherwise very well known for off-the-wall and often supernatural stories, so The Lovely Bones is exactly what one might expect from him. No complaints there. Stanley Tucci’s performance, on the other hand, struck me as being somehow overwrought and simplistic at the same time, but I guess that’s what Oscar likes. Overall, I wasn’t too keen on this, and could take it or leave it.
Crazy guys get supporting Oscar nominations.
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