Loving The Lovely Bones

I saw The Lovely Bones last night with Jen-AY and my initial reaction is WOW - very well-done. Beautiful cinematography; skillfully executed CGI; excellent set design and many more thumbs up. As a child born in the 70s, I was a bit overwhelmed with nostalgia throughout the entire film. The furniture, the wardrobe, the slang - everything perfectly depicted the period of the story - early 70s in America.

I was particularly impressed with Peter Jackson's dedication to Alice Sebold's novel. Although I found myself questioning certain scenes throughout the film, once it was over I remembered almost everything from my reading of the book in 2002. In fact, Jen re-read most of the book before we went to the theater, and she agreed there were very few differences between the film and the book. From her description - and my recollection - those differences were extremely minor.

I unexpectedly loved Saoirse Ronan as Susie, as well as Mark Wahlberg as Jack Salmon. Stanley Tucci was born to play George Harvey, since he gave me a serious case of the "skeevies." Seriously, if "Chester the Molester" was listed in Webster's dictionary, a photo of Stanley Tucci as George Harvey would certainly be included in that listing.

It's strange how the smallest tweaks can perfect a character. For example, in reality Stanley Tucci's eyes are very dark brown, but as George Harvey he wore contacts of a very clear, blue-green color. They made his creepy eyes the absolute creepiest. : CHILLS :

My least favorite character in the film was Susie's younger sister Lindsey, played by Rose McIver. I can't pinpoint my exact reasoning, but my lack of love was pronounced because Lindsey in the book was one of my favorite characters.

Susan Sarandon - who is gorgeous by the way - was fabulous as Grandma Lynn. She provided a very subtle breath of comic relief; while Rachel Weisz - who I adore - fell a little flat as Susie's mother, but her performance didn't detract from my enjoyment of the movie.

While Jen shed her first tear very early on, I managed to keep my eyes dry, but that doesn't mean there weren't several lumpy-throated moments. I won't list any so as not to spoil the film and/or book for anyone, but trust me, your heartstrings will be tugged upon.

***Side Golden Globe note: Happy to see Up in the Air won for Best Screenplay. Saw it on Christmas day and really liked it. Would love to see Anna Kendrick get out from under her role as Jessica in Twilight.