The Lovely Bones

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  • Opened December 11, 2009 
  • 2 hr 15 min
  • PG-13 | for mature thematic material involving disturbing violent content and images, and some language
  • Parents: Common Sense Media says Iffy for 16+. More on child suitability

  • Based on the critically acclaimed best-selling novel by Alice Sebold, and directed by Oscar winner Peter Jackson from a screenplay by Jackson & Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens, The Lovely Bones centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg and Oscar winners Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon star along with Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan. Full synopsis

  • Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci, Michael Imperioli, Saoirse Ronan, Rose McIver, Christian Ashdale, Reece Ritchie
  • Director: Peter Jackson
  • Genres: Drama, Suspense/Thriller

What's the Buzz?

So-so
Fans say So-So
33 fans
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So-so
Critics say So-So
42 out of 100
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Fan Reviews

No
"OUCH!"

by dck39648

"Ouch," the book screamed, as Peter Jackson yanked a fair story from its pages and slapped it stupid with cloying morosities. Lots of razzle-dazzle covering the sentimental banalities. Struggled to...

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Based off book!

by too_legit

Read the book in high school. The movie is amazing for how the book turned out....

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Critic Reviews

75
Rolling Stone
| Peter Travers

All this is conveyed in the remarkable performance of Ronan, an Oscar nominee for Atonement. She and Tucci -- magnificent as a man of uncontrollable impulses -- help Jackson cut a path to a humanity that supersedes life and death. Read full review

75
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
| Joe Williams

Yet so much about The Lovely Bones is so skillfully orchestrated, from the chillingly methodical villainy to the thrillingly paced manhunt, we can accept that we're in the hands of a higher power. Read full review

58
Entertainment Weekly
| Lisa Schwarzbaum

A sad-but-hopeful, dramatic-but-gentle fairy tale intentionally made less upsetting for teens. Read full review

50
San Francisco Chronicle
| Mick LaSalle

The Lovely Bones is difficult viewing, a meticulously crafted experiment that, it turns out, wasn't worth it. Read full review

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Photos

Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon in "The Lovely Bones."