The Lovely Bones (2009)

Centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family - and her killer - from purgatory. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal.

Director:

Peter Jackson

Writers:

Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay),

Stars:

Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 8 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Mark Wahlberg	...	Jack Salmon
Rachel Weisz	...	Abigail Salmon
Susan Sarandon	...	Grandma Lynn
Stanley Tucci	...	George Harvey
Michael Imperioli	...	Len Fenerman
Saoirse Ronan	...	Susie Salmon
Rose McIver	...	Lindsey Salmon
Christian Thomas Ashdale	...	Buckley Salmon (as Christian Ashdale)
Reece Ritchie	...	Ray Singh
Carolyn Dando	...	Ruth Connors
Nikki SooHoo	...	Holly (as Nikki Soohoo)
Andrew James Allen	...	Samuel Heckler
Jake Abel	...	Brian Nelson
AJ Michalka	...	Clarissa
Thomas McCarthy	...	Principal Caden (as Tom McCarthy)

Storyline

A 14-year-old girl in suburban 1970's Pennsylvania is murdered by her neighbor. She tells the story from the place between Heaven and Earth, showing the lives of the people around her and how they have changed all while attempting to get someone to find her lost body.

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Plot Keywords:

heaven | neighbor | police | 1970s | death | 

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Taglines:

The story of a life and everything that came after...

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [France]

Country:

USA UK New Zealand

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 January 2010 (USA)

Also Known As:

Desde mi cielo

Filming Locations:

Camperdown Studios, Camperdown Road, Miramar, Wellington, New Zealand

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,637,579 (UK) (19 February 2010)

Gross:

£6,193,167 (UK) (19 March 2010)

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks SKG, Film4, WingNut Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

135 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital DTS SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz were the first actors who got an offer to appear in the film, which would have been their second collaboration together (after The Fountain). However, while Weisz accepted her part, Jackman had to turn his down. Ryan Gosling was cast instead, although he would drop out as well, three days before the shooting started. Eventually, Mark Wahlberg got the part.

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Goofs

Just for the record, there is also a Fairfax HS in Los Angeles, California, which would make the Vacaville reference make more sense. That still leaves the question of the changing leaves and snow on the ground, but Fairfax VA is not the only town by that name with a high school.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Susie Salmon: [voiceover] I remember being really small; too small to see over the edge of a table. There was a snow globe, and I remember the penguin who lived inside the globe. He was all alone in there, and I worried for him.

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Connections

References King Kong (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Celtic Swing"
(1983)
Written and Performed by Van Morrison
Courtesy of Listen to the Lion Records

User Reviews

Jackson, the risk taker

I vaunt myself of being an independent thinker and yet I was taken by the atrocious reviews "The Lovely Bones" got. Rogert Ebert called it "deplorable" I didn't go to see it when it first came out. Shame on me! The risks Peter Jackson took, a thoroughly established filmmaker, should be applauded. True, it's not going to be everybody's cup of tea but then, what is? I was taken by surprise, a film of unbearable emotional suspense breaking every imaginable rule. We're far too used to have stories in which everything is neatly tied up by the end, so we can go back home with a fictitious peace of mind. In "The Lovely Bones" we know who the monster is from the time the monstrosity is committed but we're only spectators unable to do anything about it and that frustration may have turn part of the audience and most of the critics away. True the CGI of the "in between" is, sometimes, too much but the film as a whole is a real experience. Saorise Ronan is marvelous, so are Rachel Weitz and Mark Whalberg. Stanley Tucci was deservedly nominated for an Oscar and Susan Sarandon, another risk taker, plays the emotional constipated grandmother with great courage. Look at the exhaustion on her face as she takes care of the family, drained without betraying the arid nature of the character. As the film ended I stayed in silence for the longest time, embedded in the sadness, clinging to the hope and mystified by the massacre the critics perpetrated in this original and highly recommendable film