We watched this somewhere around January 2, 2010.
Directed by: Peter Jackson
(novel)
Fran Walsh
& Philippa Boyens
& Peter Jackson
(screenplay)
Starring: Saoirse Ronan
Mark Wahlberg
Stanley Tucci
Rachel Weisz
Susan Sarandon
Rose McIver
Reece Ritchie
Plot Synopsis
(of the movie not the book)
So, there's this naive 14 year old girl and this creepy serial killer who fancies her. While she fancies this one boy from school and taking photos of her creepy neighbor. One day on her way home from school she gets murdered and probably raped and dismembered not necessarily in that order. She goes to....heaven? I guess it's more like a pre-heaven heaven until she can face her own death or something of that nature. While in this place she can watch over her family and friends as they are emotionally torn apart by her horrific death.
Review
Let me start by saying I haven't read the book. It seems like there's been quite a bit of hate for this movie and it's mainly from people who have read the book. I didn't hate this movie. I didn't love it either but I definitely liked it. It seems the biggest complaints have been that too much effort was put into the visuals and not enough into the story. Aside from the surrealistic "heaven" stuff the "real world" was also beautifully shot. The "heaven" scenes were indisputably stunning but that's not what I think about when I think back on this movie. I mainly think about the performances of Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon and Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. I think it's worth seeing just for them. I also really liked the character of Jack Salmon, Susie's dad, and I think Mark Wahlberg did a good job. I liked his OCD, his obsession with finding the killer, the totally irrational logic of his rational problem solving. Okay so here's the things that bothered me. I don't get why the boy she was crushing on when she was 14 was still hung up on her however-many-indeterminate-amount-of years after she died even though they never actually had any real connection. Also Susan Sarandon. I guess I shouldn't say that because she was good as the grandmother but I didn't like the character of the grandmother. She probably would have been my favorite character if it weren't for one thing. She never shows any sign of grief over her murdered granddaughter. There's one scene where she's talking to her young grandson about Susie being dead and it's unnecessarily mean. She's willing to come live with the family to help them get their lives back in order and take care of the children so why is she so cold hearted when it comes to Susie? Maybe that's the way it is in the book, I don't know but it bothered me. Lastly, there's this really weird montage where the wacky grandma has to take care of the children and do the house work and...awkwardness ensues. I think it's suppose to be cute and funny but given the gravity of what this family has just been through it's kind of hard to watch. We don't want to be quirky and lighthearted when someone has been brutally murdered. Especially if that someone is our beloved 14 year old granddaughter. But all in all I still think It's a good movie, not great but good. I'm glad I saw it and in the future if I ever get a working TV and it happens to be on I just might watch it again.
Mark Wahlberg
Stanley Tucci
Rachel Weisz
Susan Sarandon
Rose McIver
Reece Ritchie
Plot Synopsis
(of the movie not the book)
So, there's this naive 14 year old girl and this creepy serial killer who fancies her. While she fancies this one boy from school and taking photos of her creepy neighbor. One day on her way home from school she gets murdered and probably raped and dismembered not necessarily in that order. She goes to....heaven? I guess it's more like a pre-heaven heaven until she can face her own death or something of that nature. While in this place she can watch over her family and friends as they are emotionally torn apart by her horrific death.
Review
Let me start by saying I haven't read the book. It seems like there's been quite a bit of hate for this movie and it's mainly from people who have read the book. I didn't hate this movie. I didn't love it either but I definitely liked it. It seems the biggest complaints have been that too much effort was put into the visuals and not enough into the story. Aside from the surrealistic "heaven" stuff the "real world" was also beautifully shot. The "heaven" scenes were indisputably stunning but that's not what I think about when I think back on this movie. I mainly think about the performances of Saoirse Ronan as Susie Salmon and Stanley Tucci as George Harvey. I think it's worth seeing just for them. I also really liked the character of Jack Salmon, Susie's dad, and I think Mark Wahlberg did a good job. I liked his OCD, his obsession with finding the killer, the totally irrational logic of his rational problem solving. Okay so here's the things that bothered me. I don't get why the boy she was crushing on when she was 14 was still hung up on her however-many-indeterminate-amount-of years after she died even though they never actually had any real connection. Also Susan Sarandon. I guess I shouldn't say that because she was good as the grandmother but I didn't like the character of the grandmother. She probably would have been my favorite character if it weren't for one thing. She never shows any sign of grief over her murdered granddaughter. There's one scene where she's talking to her young grandson about Susie being dead and it's unnecessarily mean. She's willing to come live with the family to help them get their lives back in order and take care of the children so why is she so cold hearted when it comes to Susie? Maybe that's the way it is in the book, I don't know but it bothered me. Lastly, there's this really weird montage where the wacky grandma has to take care of the children and do the house work and...awkwardness ensues. I think it's suppose to be cute and funny but given the gravity of what this family has just been through it's kind of hard to watch. We don't want to be quirky and lighthearted when someone has been brutally murdered. Especially if that someone is our beloved 14 year old granddaughter. But all in all I still think It's a good movie, not great but good. I'm glad I saw it and in the future if I ever get a working TV and it happens to be on I just might watch it again.
No comments:
Post a Comment