There’s a sweetness to Alice Sebold‘s 2002 mega-bestseller “The Lovely Bones” that belies the story of a young girl’s brutal rape and killing. That same sweetness, so magnificently captured on the page, is missing from Peter Jackson‘s film adaptation of Sebold’s book.
Tales about avenging teenage ghosts (e.g., The Invisible) aren’t exactly new. That story as seen through the eyes of director Peter Jackson, however, is certainly something unique. Jackson’s style and a cast that includes Susan Sarandon and Rachel Weisz makes The Lovely Bones a promising, dynamic tale. That is if Mark Wahlberg doesn’t ruin it. [...]