Overview: From Academy Award winning director Peter Jackson comes the extraordinary story about one girl’s life, and everything that came after. When 14-year-old Susie Salmon was murdered, she left her unfinished life behind. But now from her place in a strange but beautiful in-between world, she must help her father catch her killer and protect her family before she can finally move on.

DVD: Some drama films are the kind that you feel emotional resonance for the characters, feel mildly engaged by the plot, think about it for a few seconds after leaving the theater, get into your car, get pissed off at a stupid driver, and quickly move back into your own life. 'The Lovely Bones' isn't that kind of movie.

Director Peter Jackson, of Lord of the Rings and King Kong fame, doesn't seem like the most obvious choice to direct the adaptation of the seemingly untouchable Alice Sebold novel, but he does his best, by staying close to the source material, but occasionally taking things out here and there. He also brings alot of ah-mazing CGI shots that are so gorgeous, they may be worth the price of admission alone, and I doubt we would've had that type of a movie if anybody else had directed it.

However, you get the feeling that Jackson paid too much attention to the CGI aspect, while he could've dealt with the center plot issue with more directorial sensitivity, mocking the same way the book was written, and that's what stops this from being a perfect movie.

The plot centers around Susie Salmon (played by Saoirse Ronan), a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered in 1973. Ronan was absolutely perfect in this role. She showed promise in the 2007 film Atonement, where she also played a terrified youth who is dealing with an unbelievable situation. In the film, Susie is watching over her family, the boy she was in love with, and her killer -- from her own personal heaven.

Stanley Tucci nails his role, playing the demented serial killer Mr. Harvey. He gives a particularly chilling, and uncannily believable performance, showing more versatility with every film he makes, you can tell that he really got lost in this role, because his part isn't one of those where you find yourself wondering what the actor has previously starred in -- you see his character, and he does a damn fine job at it.

Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz and Susan Sarandon play Susie's family, and each of those roles require the actor to display quite alot of emotion, grieving her loss, and they all do terrific work, causing you to feel the extreme remorse that their characters do, and I really don't know if better actors could have been selected to play the respective parts.

Nikki SooHoo plays Holly, a girl who Susie meets in heaven, another victim of Mr. Harvey. Her role is particularly memorable, serving as something of a reassuring voice to the Ronan's character, and I see her doing great things in her future, because, while being an unknown actress, she shows just as much talent as the other actors in this all-star cast.

The core of this movie, however, the reason to go and see it in a packed theatre, doesn't lie in its acting, or the writing, or even the direction. It lies in the story. We've all wondered what happens to us after we die. 'The Lovely Bones' suggests that we go to a world that we think is perfect, but we're still haunted by the things that troubled us in our lives. And while the movie leaves you heartbroken, wanting to spend every day you have on this earth as your last, it leaves you pondering your own life, the significance of it, how you'll be remembered.

And that's something I particularly like in a film, when it not only moves you to the point where tears are flooding your eyes, but when it leaves you with a great deal of psychological issues to ponder, about your own life, and what comes after your life is ultimately over. And that's what The Lovely Bones does. And while staying true to the source material, that's all a fan of this story can ask for. [MB] This is a Widescreen Presentation (1.85:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs, but comes with no Special Features.

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