Mum's Monday: The Lovely Bones

WARNING SPOILERS

When I first watched this film, I didn’t quite get what they were aiming for, but after reading the book, of the same name by Alice Sebold, it all made sense to me.

This is a film about a young 14-year-old girl, Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) on a quest to help her father, Jack (Mark Wahlberg) find a mass murderer, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci). The difference is, is that Susie is also one of his murder victims. Some of the film seems a bit strange, but once you read the book it all becomes clear.

This film, not only explores what happens to a family in the event of a murder, but also what happens to the victim, in this case, what Susie is going through after her death in the in-between world. It is clever how the two worlds collide, such as when George, her murderer, breaks her charm bracelet and when Jack, her dad, smashes the bottles with the ships in. the special effects are amazing, you could see they went to town on them, as no one knows what happens when we pass, Alice writing the book and the people making the film could have free reign. However, her dad sensing Susie’s emotions leads to a not very nice consequence for her father.

When Susie meets George’s other victims it is very emotional to watch. Luckily Susie realises she has some unfinished business and lets the others go and returns.

In parts of the film we hear Susie talk over the scenes, this adds to the emotional atmosphere of the film. She has the perfect tone of voice and the script is well written.

One person, Ruth Connors (Carolyn Dando) senses something is wrong, it is a pity we didn’t see her act on it more, justice may have been served sooner, in the end however, it is surprising what can be achieved with an icicle.