The Lovely Bones

Critics Consensus

It's stuffed full of Peter Jackson's typically dazzling imagery, but The Lovely Bones suffers from abrupt shifts between horrific violence and cloying sentimentality.

32%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 243

52%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 373,626
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Movie Info

Fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is just experiencing the pangs of first love when she's viciously murdered by her neighbor Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci), a predatory wolf with a deceptively mundane appearance. As her family slowly begins drifting apart while struggling to make sense of their loss, Susie bravely attempts to find her footing in the hereafter. Meanwhile, down on earth, Mr. Harvey is feeling confident that he's covered his tracks well enough to get away with the crime, and begins honing in on his next victim -- Susie's younger sister, Lindsey (Rose McIver), who's beginning to suspect that he's not the harmless suburbanite he portrays himself to be. Director Peter Jackson reteams with King Kong and Lord of the Rings trilogy co-screenwriters Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh to adapt Alice Sebold's bestselling novel for the big screen. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

Cast

Mark Wahlberg
as Jack Salmon
Rachel Weisz
as Abigail Salmon
Saoirse Ronan
as Susie Salmon
Stanley Tucci
as George Harvey
Susan Sarandon
as Grandma Lynn
Nikki SooHoo
Michael Imperioli
as Len Fenerman
Rose McIver
as Lindsey Salmon
Christian Ashdale
as Buckley Salmon
Reece Ritchie
as Ray Singh
Amanda Michalka
Jake Abel
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Critic Reviews for The Lovely Bones

All Critics (243) | Top Critics (57) | Fresh (77) | Rotten (166)

  • Under the hammy direction of Peter Jackson The Lovely Bones has lost its poetic bone structure. What was a complex, quirky novel has been turned into a movie mishmash of Lord of the Rings and High School Musical, with a serial killer thrown in.

    Feb 19, 2010 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Kate Muir

    Times (UK)
    Top Critic

  • Instead of a compelling nightmare, he has created a bland, girly-sparkly dream.

    Feb 19, 2010 | Rating: 2/5 | Full Review…

    Peter Bradshaw

    Guardian
    Top Critic

  • It's an extraordinary folly. A turkey, a pig's ear, a mad cow of a film. Its treatment of bereavement and familial grief is crazier than anything Lars Von Trier came up with in Antichrist.

    Feb 19, 2010 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…
    Daily Telegraph (UK)
    Top Critic

  • The delicacy and finely-wrought characterisation of Alice Sebold's novel has been removed in favour of a beyond-the-grave whodunit, subtlety be damned.

    Feb 19, 2010

    Alice Levick

    Little White Lies
    Top Critic

  • Jackson seems more at home in the afterlife than in this one, rendering this off-kilter project creepy and pretentious.

    Feb 19, 2010 | Rating: 3/5 | Full Review…

    Tom Charity

    CNN.com
    Top Critic

  • Jackson's version achieves a different, less palatable kind of novelty. It is a "heart-warming" film about murder.

    Feb 19, 2010 | Rating: 1/5 | Full Review…

    Leo Robson

    Financial Times
    Top Critic
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Audience Reviews for The Lovely Bones

  • Nov 08, 2013
    So getting raped and murdered and watching your family and friends mourn for you from PJ's vision of heaven is something to be proud of? I'd rather wish it would NOT happen at all.
    Max G Super Reviewer
  • Apr 09, 2013
    Although this isn't really a horror for me still it's classified under horror. I can understand that some people will find it gruesome due the subject but I must say that it had no drip of red stuff in it. Not that that is important, just look at Texas Chainsaw or Halloween, they were bloodless too. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed this creepy flick. It reminded me a lot of The Loved Ones somehow, it must be the use of slow motion and the score. On the other hand it also reminded me of Heavenly Creatures by the way they used the dream sequences. It's a special flick coming from the hand of Peter Jackson. Knowing him for splatter and gore in his earlier days this could be a let down for some but I really liked it the way it was shot and the use of CGI didn't bother me at all. Not for everyone but if you can stand weird flicks than this won't be a problem for you. 3 1/2 Stars 4-6-13
    Bruce B Super Reviewer
  • Jan 21, 2013
    So I had a review here about this movie but Flixster decided not to save it. Basically it was good but some of it was boring and out of place, it could have been so much better.
    Megan S Super Reviewer
  • Nov 01, 2012
    A very different film that was gripping and kind of slow at the same time, I just didn't really get into it and sometimes was confusing, Must admit I did let out a tiny cheer when the girls killer died at the end.
    Jamie C Super Reviewer
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