“The Lovely Bones” centers on a young girl who has been murdered and watches over her family – and her killer – from heaven. She must weigh her desire for vengeance against her desire for her family to heal. The Lovely Bones is a 2009 drama film directed by Peter Jackson. It is a film adaptation of the award-winning and best-selling 2002 novel of the same name by Alice Sebold.The film stars Saoirse Ronan in the lead role as Susie Salmon, along with Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz, as her parents Jack and Abigail Salmon respectively, in supporting roles.

In 1973, Susie Salmon (Ronan), a 14-year-old girl living in Norristown, Pennsylvania, dreams of becoming a famous photographer. On December 6, Ray Singh (Reece Ritchie), a boy Susie has had a crush on, approaches her at her locker and slips a note into her textbook. He asks her out for the following Saturday and attempts to kiss her, but they are interrupted by a teacher (Thomas McCarthy) scolding a fellow classmate, Ruth Conners, (Carolyn Dando).

As Susie is walking home from school, she runs into her neighbor, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci), who coaxes her into seeing an underground den that he says he has built for the neighborhood children. While in the den, Susie becomes uncomfortable in Harvey’s presence and tries to leave; when he restrains her, she kicks him in the face and runs out of the den back into the field, passing Ruth along the way.

Meanwhile, the Salmon family begins to worry because of Susie not returning home yet. Her father, Jack (Wahlberg), leaves to go look for her. Susie makes it into town and sees her father, but he does not see her. Susie instead runs home, but discovers the house empty. She enters the upstairs bathroom to find Harvey soaking in a bathtub. After discovering her charm bracelet hanging on the sink faucet, near a bloody shaving razor, Susie realizes that she never escaped the den and was instead murdered by Harvey.

As she screams in horror, she is pulled away into a surreal world that is neither heaven nor earth, but “The In-Between,” where she continues to watch over her loved ones. She is unable to let go of her life and family despite her new afterlife friend, Holly (Nikki SooHoo), urging her to move on.

The early, pre-murder scenes are the best part of the film, because they’re grounded in reality and show a deft touch in portraying the 1970s Pennsylvania home and school life of 14-year-old Susie Salmon. The costume and production design are all top notch.

The undoubted highlight of the film, however, is the performance of Saoirse Ronan. While there is strong support from McIver and Mark Wahlberg, it is Ronan who steals the show. Since her breakout performance in Atonement she’s demonstrated a remarkable dexterity with characters and accents. Susie gives her the opportunity to really stretch herself.

She’s required to play the ordinary and the extreme, and she nails every scene. Just watch her when she’s helping Jack finish his latest bottle boat. She conveys warmth, fascination and vitality, all while hardly uttering a word. Her performance will resonate with young teens, especially girls.

Know more about the The Lovely Bones movie plot & characters, Visit the Big Home Video website to find out more about The Lovely Bones -The Movie.