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:

Rachel Weisz, Mark Wahlberg, Saoirse Ronan

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 10 wins & 45 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 Ashdale	...	Buckley Salmon
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
Tom McCarthy	...	Principal Caden

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:

afterlife | child molester | investigation | serial murder | sexual predator | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Thriller

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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:

The Lovely Bones

Filming Locations:

Bryan Ave & Queens Ave, Paoli, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$65,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$116,616, 13 December 2009, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$43,818,839, 7 March 2010

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$93,621,340, 5 January 2013

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, 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

The school that Susie attends is based on General Wayne Middle School in Malvern, Pennsylvania (now known as General Wayne Elementary School), which Alice Sebold attended in the 1970s.

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Goofs

When Abigail and Jack are in bed, we see that Abigail is reading Exile and the Kingdom by Albert Camus. As Jack begins to kiss her, she is seen reaching toward the nightstand to place the book on top of a pile of other books, including Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. In doing so, she accidentally knocks both books to the floor, but in the next shot, as she reaches over to turn the lamp off, Siddhartha has reappeared on top of the pile of books on the nightstand.

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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

Version of Anghel sa lupa (2003)

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Soundtracks

The Moon's Lament
Written and Performed by Cindy D'Lequez-Sage (as Cindy D'lequez-Sage)
Courtesy of Opal Ltd.

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