The Lovely Bones

Good week for movies. I got to see The Boys are Back along with this great supsense/drama film starring Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, Susan Sarandon and new starlet Saorise Ronan. A star-studded cast and a great director (Peter Jackson of Lord of the Rings) brought this film to life and created an incredible world that wove reality and fantasy into a great story overall. After their daughters murder, Whalberg and Weisz play grieving parents who take different paths in dealing with their daughters mysterious abduction and death. I think that mostly you can see this film's theme as "a fathers love for his daughter" and just how far someone is willing to go for their child. Sarandon plays the alcoholic grandma who struggles to mend the family and take care of the situation the best she knows how. As time passes, clues are brought forth from beyond by the dead daughter through a series interactions with her relentless father and sister who are bent on finding her killer. Tucci plays an amazing role as the peculiar, suspicious, plotting neighbor who finds it hard to completely walk away from his "work".

Its hard to believe that the first time I saw Tucci play a role it was as a criminal in the kids' film Beethoven. He has come a long way and does an amazing job making the viewer cringe, and made me feel like I wanted to jump into the film and grab him myself. I am not spoiling anything for the movie because it is evident from the beginning that Tucci's character will be the "bad guy". I thought this film was so great. I was intrigued and glued to my seat through the entire film. No one wants to think about something as horrible as young girls being abducted but Jackson directs a great film which doesnt go into the grotesque yet leaves you knowing what has happened.

My Elementary Grading Scale: Exceeding Expectations

1-10: 9