Movies about serial killers these days, are undoubtedly revolving around the browbeat murderer who is often male, and the female victims who are portrayed as helpless and when they screech for help, no one comes and the axe comes down... How boring! Fortunately, one can say The Lovely Bones is a thriller that keeps you at the edge of the seat and certainly won’t disappoint it’s viewers. Unlike the usual drama where the killer is on a loose, and the cops with their high-tech gadgets put together the pieces in the puzzle and catch him at the nick of the time, Lovely Bones focuses on a genuine 14-year old Susie Salmon,(Saoirse Ronan) who had her life ripped out on a gloomy December 6th,1973, as she says in her introduction in the beginning of the movie:

“My name is Salmon, like the fish. First name, Suzie. I was 14 years old when I was murdered on Dec 6th 1973.”

Suzie Salmon had everything she had to hope and live for, her dream to become the greatest wildlife photographer, her first crush and her unique eye in seeing things around her as it really is, beautiful. She has a “spontaneity” in capturing moments, it was truly gut-wrenching to see her lured to her death in the end. The good news is that she plays a constant role through out, where she is in the in-between,the half-way between Heaven and Earth. She watches over her family as well as keeps an eye out for her killer. Ronan does a great job as she lends her voice to the narrative, captivating her audience in the flow of the story, filled with various emotions at times, longing for her life, sorrow for not having her “moment” in life, and fear when she has to move on.

Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Wiesz are very convincing when they painfully try to cope with the loss of their daughter. Wahlberg believes that he can find the murderer and avenge his daughter’s death, but loses hope when he can’t bring forth evidence and stops when he sees his family being torn apart by his obsession.On whole,the movie is serious but Susan Sarandon who plays the offbeat grandmother, lends in light humor to the movie with two-left hands when it comes to taking care of the household.

What can I say, it is after all Peter Jackson, who is the director.. Visual effects were simply marvelous! The stunning sky, the way it is so green with trees everywhere and the way you can see the entire universe during the night, just the perfect place to be although it is the ‘in-between’. Peter Jackson is also known for his other movies as well, such as Lord of the Rings, all three sequels and King Kong.

The movie is adapted from the book, “The Lovely Bones”, by the American novelist, Alice Sebold. Born in Wisconsin, the forty-six year old just finished her latest work yet, “The Almost Moon”, which was released in late 2007. Her works other than Lovely Bones (actually published in 2002) include Lucky(published in 1999) and a few other short stories as well. Sebold has won several awards including the Book of the Year Award in 2003 for Adult’s Fiction and the Bram Stoker Award.A New York critic called her new release, The Almost New Moon - “Sebold’s fixation on terror”. It begins:

“When all is said and done, killing my mother came easily..”

Ouch! Whoever is interested in reading murder or horror, I recommend this book to you and as for the movie, Lovely Bones was certainly very captivating and I sure hope you enjoy this movie as much as I did.