The Lovely Bones that is. I went and saw it this afternoon. Brutal honesty I would give it a C+ and I was really disappointed.
First off, most of you know this is my favorite book of all time. It's prolific and just incredible. I was really excited about a movie but really apprehensive because the book is hard to imagine as a movie (and apparently hard to turn into a decent one). I knew the reviews were bad so I was kind of expecting to be disappointed. Here's my review.
The "lovely bones", not the movie the actual bones Susie talks about in the book, are the connections that are created among the people affected by her death. She speaks of the lovely bones that grew around the people touched by her death. So that right there tells you that The Lovely Bones the book is about relationships, connections, grief and just flat out humanity all as seen by 14 year old Susie Salmon from the "Inbetween". The movie did away with that and completely attempted to turn it into some suspenseful murder mystery when there is no mystery at all because you see George Harvey kill Susie (well pretty much). Because of this change half of the characters in the book don't appear in the movie and none of the characters with the exception of Susie and George Harvey are fleshed out particularly the parents, Jack and Abigail. This is why the movie is really a big departure from the book although there are parts of the movie that are word for word like the book.
I don't think it's a travesty like a lot of critics because there were good things. The first 1/4 of the movie really is good. The scenes with Susie and George Harvey in the cornfield immediately before and during her murder are excellent and particularly the cinematography. The scenes immediately after Susie's death are incredible in that you don't see her actual murder but it is portrayed in such a unique way. The scenes are terrifying and you really feel the terror Susie was experiencing. The initial grief of the family is very compelling but after that the movie falls apart.
The cast is excellent Saoirse Ronan is excellent as is Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. Rachel Weisz is excellent with the little she was given to work with. Susan Sarandon was perfect as well. Rose McIver played Lindsey Salmon, Susie's younger sister, and she was good but far too old for the part. She is 22 and is supposed to be 12 in the movie and then she ages throughout the movie. I really couldn't stop getting distracted by how old she looked. The cinematography is excellent throughout of course.
So don't let me stop you from seeing it but don't have any expectations especially if you read the book. If you didn't read the book you might like it better than those of us who love the book.