The Lovely Bones Review
“The Lovely Bones” is based on the 2002 bestselling novel by Alice Sebold. This is the story of the murder of a 14 year-old girl named Susie Salmon. She lives happily in a suburban neighborhood in Pennsylvania with her parents and 2 younger siblings. She tells us her story by narrating everything that happens from “in-between” somewhere between earth and heaven. Susie watches her family and friends heal from their loss and search for her killer.
Rating: Three out of five buckets
Release Date: April 20, 2010
MPAA Rating: PG13
Best Age Group: 13+
Sexual Content: Mild
Violent Content: Excessive
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
Talking Points:
As parents we always tell our kids, “Don’t talk to strangers.” Well, in this movie the murderer is a neighbor, someone who she knows and trusts. When the neighbor wants to show Susie something that he made for the neighborhood kids, Susie is curious, but a little apprehensive, though she follows him, and that’s the beginning of the end for Susie. This could bring up a good discussion with kids about safety and to follow their instincts.
Parents will relate to what Susie’s parents are going through. Her dad is determined to find the killer, and her mom is in denial, sealing off Susie’s bedroom. Their marriage is also strained from the stress of this horrific event in their lives.
The movie is entertaining at times. Susie’s grandma (Susan Sarandon), who enjoys her liquor, adds some humor to the movie as she demonstrates her terrible housekeeping skills when she comes to take care of the kids.
Sexual Content: Moderate
- There’s no indication that Susie gets raped, as she does in the novel, and her murder occurs off screen, but knowing what happened is creepy.
Violent Content: Excessive
- The movie was scary, I was on edge in most of the scenes. However, I read that the movie was intentionally made less upsetting for teens.The movie will scare some teenage girls. As viewers, they will get to know Susie from the various flashbacks in the movie that show her interest in photography, her crush on a boy at school, and her day to day life with her parents and siblings. Teenage girls will see that Susie is a normal teenager and that they can relate to her in some aspects of their own lives. Like the author, Alice Sebold, said, “No one is immune from violence, it touches everyone.” The novel, in which the movie based on, arose from the author’s own experience with violence, her rape as and 18 year old girl.
Crude or Profane Language: Mild
Drugs and Alcohol Content: Excessive
- Susie’s grandma is an alcoholic and drinks a lot throughout the movie.
I’m not a fan of scary movies, for myself or my kids, so the movie did not appeal to me. However, I liked the characters, and I appreciated the fact that we didn’t see the gory details of the actual murder. If your unsure about the movie, I would view it first before allowing your kids to see it. It’s rated PG13 for disturbing violent content and images.
My 13 year old daughter and her 2 friends saw the movie. They all liked it, but thought it was scary. My daughter did not sleep well the night after she saw the movie. I rate it three buckets with the recommendation, as I mentioned, that parents see it first.
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