The Lovely Bones

"The Lovely Bones" is a cross between "What Dreams May Come," "Stir of Echoes," and director Peter Jackson's own "Heavenly Creatures" (1993). Jackson's visionary filmic adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel packs a worthy punch of haunting esoteric pathos. But casting blunders weigh down the film's marginal appeal. Saoirse Ronan does few favors as 14-year-old Susie Salmon, an unfortunate girl murdered by Mr. Harvey (Stanley Tucci), a serial killer residing in Susie's suburban Philly neighborhood circa 1973. The story hop-scotches between events, leading up to Susie's murder, while giving eye-candy visions of a heavenly waiting-room limbo of rainbows, verdant fields, and hyper-natural spaces. Casting disasters ensue. Nikki SooHoo is irredeemable as Holly, a sort of woodland nymph mascot for Susie's colorful between-worlds wonderland. Reece Ritchie cracks a clam as Susie's unlikely would-be hunky boyfriend prior to her untimely death. Still, Susan Sarandon sets herself apart as Grandma Lynn, a self-medicating matriarch who brings some much-needed humor to the story. Sarandon has aged like a fine bottle of single-malt scotch, and her instinctive ability to ground scenes is out of this world. In spite of its obvious flaws, "The Lovely Bones" carries an inertia of unmistakable tension, care of Peter Jackson, that makes it a suspenseful and entertaining film.

Rated PG-13. 135 mins. (B-) (Three Stars)