While at times a little intense for those who may be squeemish, "The Lovely Bones" tells the story of what a family goes through when losing a child to murder. What makes it interesting is that it is told through the voice and eyes of the murdered child. The child, Susie Salmon, played by Saoirse Ronan, is luminous. Her murderer, played by Stanley Tucci, seems pretty harmless in the beginning and gets increasingly creepy. Rachel Weitz was right on as the mother coping, in her own way, with the loss of her daughter and the subsequent obsession of her husband. Mark Wahlberg was excellent playing the obsessed father, first trying to find his daughter and then trying to find her murderer. Supporting actor Reece Ritchie was amazing, and the girl who played Ruth gave a powerful performance as the only person who can see or sense Susie's spirit.

Please do not take your kids to this movie. It is not the type you would want them to see. It will freak them out and be scared for the rest of thier lifes. I loved the movie. IGreat acting and story line. After watching it I felt a little weird and scared and wanted to cry. I wanted to pull my kids out of school and hug them. Go see it with adults only.

I Actually Watched This Movie Before I Read The Book, And I Think The Movie Was AMAZING. And Then Once I Read The Book I Was Sad That SO Much Stuff Was Left Out. But Still At The Same Time The Movie Itself Was Great! And The Book Was Even Better. So If You See The Movie Without Reading The Book First And You Love The Movie, You Will Love The Book Even More!

I've read the book and went with someone who hadn't, and we both thoroughly embraced this movie. The previews lead you to expect an intense murder mystery, but that's only a small part of the movie, which is pretty faithful to the book. If you want to see a great serial killer movie, go rent The Silence of the Lambs. The Lovely Bones, by contrast, is primarily a story of the grieving and healing process. The title is a metaphor, the knitting of new bones to replace those shattered by a terrible tragedy. It explores the different paths taken by family members and friends, including the murder victim herself as she narrates the story from a non-denominational heaven that is multi-layered and visually dazzling. The story is very tough at times to bear, but ultimately is quite worthwhile. The actors all do a fine job, but the movie hangs on Saoirse Ronan and she delivers an amazing performance.

As a fan of the book, and as one that was following all of the trailers and clips as the release date approached, I was highly anticipating Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Seybold's novel so I went last night to watch the very first showing of it right at midnight in LA. The acting by all of the performers was outstanding. I even applaud Mark Wahlberg who's had a few bad movies lately. But the performances by Susan Sarandon, Stanley Tucci and most notably Saoirse Ronan, who's developing into a superb actress, deserve my highest recognition. I'll never look at Tucci again the same way. He is likely to go down as one of the most memorable antagonists of the decade. Sarandon delivers the light relief for the dark, depressing subject of the movie. It was Ronan that stands out the most. Even in her narration she brings Seybold's Suzy Salmon wonderfully to the screen. Jackson has brought out the best in these actors along with a stunning vision to Seybold's novel.