The Lovely Bones

Ghosts have been captivating audiences for millennia, from the first page of Hamlet to Patrick, Demi and that pottery wheel. And who hasn’t dreamed of sticking around to tie up some loose ends? This notion of post-mortem limbo is explored in Peter Jackson’s adaptation of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones. With a doctorate in CGI and a handful of Oscars to prove it, Jackson seems the perfect choice to navigate the afterlife onscreen. But this time, the Lord of the Rings has bitten off more than he can chew.

Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is on her way home from school when she is brutally murdered by neighbor George Harvey (an eerily unrecognizable Stanley Tucci). Rather than ascending to heaven, Susie remains in a magical purgatory called the “In-Between,” where she watches her parents (Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz) struggle to stay together in the midst of overwhelming loss. On call with the comic relief is Susie’s booze-guzzling grandmother (Susan Sarandon), countering grief with afternoon gin.

Although the film begins as a moving story of love, death and family, its characters are soon set aside for the carnival kitsch of the In-Between.  In this ephemeral netherworld, viewers are bombarded with allegorical intercuts that are powerful in their imagery but one-dimensional in purpose. (Mr. Salmon smashes his collection of model ships; Susie witnesses a giant fleet shatter against seaside cliffs. Gag.) As a result, Jackson keeps his audience at arm’s length, smothering the performances of his star-studded cast with gratuitous graphics.

In a closing monologue, Susie finally throws us a lovely bone, breathily explaining that her family’s broken and healing relationships are “the lovely bones that had grown around my absence.” But after 135 minutes of muddled metaphors, purgatory has never looked less appealing.