The story of 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.
Archives
- August 2010 (4)
- July 2010 (4)
- June 2010 (14)
- May 2010 (18)
- April 2010 (13)
- March 2010 (18)
- February 2010 (13)
- December 2009 (5)
- November 2009 (15)
- October 2009 (16)
- September 2009 (16)
- August 2009 (1)
-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- James on Inception
- Robert Gallop on Inception
- Robert Gallop on Iron Man 2
- Rob Gallop on Shutter Island
- Robert Gallop on Alice In Wonderland
2 Comments
The “Everyone’s A Critic” Review
In the wonderful world of film, the adaptation of an existing novel is common place. At times, the translation is a perfect fit, at others, it all falls flat. Unfortunately, Peter Jackson’s eagerly anticipated movie version (based on the bestseller by Alice Sebold) slips into the latter category – this reviewer found very little that was lovely here.
The book – a dreamy and heartfelt look at loss, grief and redemption told through the eyes of a murdered teenager from her view from heaven – is full of so much emotion, life, love, loss and all of this seems jettisoned from the script by this Oscar winning team. The film feels episodic, so where a book can let the reader imagine the length of time passed after this short life was extinguished, on the screen it just feels utterly forced and devoid of any life.
The script must be to blame as the usually exceptional acting calibre on offer (Weisz, Wahlberg, Tucci, Sarandon) simply have nothing to work with. Only the awesome Saoirse Ronan comes away with any credit; she truly brings Susie Salmon to life, even in her death.
There are a few brief moments that touch on Jackson’s superb directorial talent (the montage of Susie’s discovery of the true extent of her killer’s past is both terrifying and beautiful) but these are outdone by the majority of the film that fails to deliver.
The film may work better for those who have not read the book on which it is based, but for this fan of the novel, I came away feeling empty – not what this fable is supposed to be about.
In response to your review.
I agree with alot with some points you have made,to have not read the book would make it such a better film! however, this film did give me the emotional rollercoster (at times) that the book delivered, it’s wonderful use of colour for Susie’s imagination brought the film to life.
It’s certificate of 12a I must admit is maybe a little low.
Overall though Peter Jackson’s interpretation of the film I felt was true to the book (almost page to page) but to know the ending I think spoilt the film, I’m not really sure what I expected to be different!