The Lovely Bones

Goolphipp Award: 4.4 (No Peanuts Chucked)

Phipps:
The Lovely Bones made me tear up and made my chin wobble. Let me be honest, I haven't read the book, so I don't know if Peter Jackson did it justice, but I do know that his version, however different it is from the novel, is a movie worth seeing. The blurring of heaven and earth, called the "in-between," where the spirit of Susie lived, was done well - cohesive and interesting. All the necessary parts were foreshadowed in an balantly obvious way, but the pieces couldn't be put together until we (and Susie) were ready.

Performances in this movie were just wonderful. The very Irish Saoirse Ronan brought Susie Salmon to life, and did a phenomenal job with the range of emotion expected of her. Susan Sarandon stole all of her scenes as the grandmother, who smokes and drinks throughout. Stanley Tucci. What can you say about him? He was nominated for a Golden Globe for this role, and it is well-deserved. He was the perfect serial killer. In fact, I think all the performances were great.

As a whole, this movie is intense. I walked out of the theater overwhelmed and discombobulated. It is an experience. I came to care about the Salmon family, and I wanted to see Stanley Tucci take a long walk off a short pier. I don't know if I'll ever watch this movie again, because it's so intense and emotional, but I don't think I'll ever forget it.

In fact, the only thing I have against the movie is that the climax of the movie is a kiss, which is more of a book issue anyway.

Phipps overall: 4.75
My chin actually wobbled...doesn't happen for just anything.

Goolsby:
I wasn't as excited for this movie as Phipps. I was curious, but that's about it. That being said, I went in pretty blank. I think Mark Wahlberg plays a great father role in this movie. he brought just the right amount of emotion for his fallen daughter. On the other hand I thought Rachel Weisz was missing the "it" factor. She did a good job, but I didn't feel her performance matched her on screen husband's performance.

What I really like about this movie was the score and music selection. I thought the music added a nice cherry on the top for the movie. It was perfectly woven in and the main song really reflected the "in-between" world.

Maybe someday I'll read the book. Imagine how hard it would be to write the "in-between" world. Oi.

Goolsby overall: 4
I welled up, didn't spill over though. Commanding, but not the full hype.

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