And Marky Mark was lovely. I am surprised by how much I liked him in this film. Usually I feel he is “meh” at best, minus a role here and there, but here he had many strong scenes. Him and Rachel Weisz were wonderful as the parents, but I hated how she left for a while, but that is when Marky Mark was able to shine his best. His biggest flaw is his Boston accent. It holds him back at times, especially when he is playing a man from Indiana in 1973.
Stanley Tucci was absolutely scary in this. He creeped me out and I’m a grown man! He was brilliant. It was Oscar nominee worthy. I wish that girl didn’t go with him! But I forget how much more innocent kids were then and trusting of people. It’s not like now where they’re exposed to everything because of tv and the internet. Tv then was clean.
The outcome of the creep was not satisfying and left me angry. Circumstantial death was not satisfying to me. He needed to be caught.
Saiorse Ronan was a revelation.
The bad thing about the film were the scenes of her in the afterlife. Took me out of the film a bit.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 76 | May 30, 2021 3:11 PM |
I though the story in the real world was magnificent and thrilling. Some of the afterlife stuff was a bit cringy, but I guess that was all in the book.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | May 23, 2021 11:18 PM |
OP you should definitely read the book is you haven’t. Alice Seybold’s prose is just great and pulls you in immediately.
One thing (spoilers) that really bothered me when reading the book is that Susie’s body is never found. While reading it I assumed the title referred to Susie’s bones which would be found and provide closure for her family as well as evidence against her killer, but it refers to something else altogether.
I also enjoyed the movie. Tucci was great. I didn’t mind the dreamy “afterlife” sequences. Marky Mark was good but his wig was distracting.
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | May 23, 2021 11:20 PM |
Ryan Gosling was originally cast as Jack, the father, but he kept on nagging and nagging how he didn’t feel he could be believable as a father in his late 30s, as he was only 26 at the time. The Producers and Director etc. all assured him with makeup and clothing he would look the part but he felt he wouldn’t be right because he’s a method actor, so he was let go and Mark Wahlberg cast in his place, the day before they began shooting.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | May 23, 2021 11:30 PM |
I loved this movie & wish it had been more successful. I tried to get my coworker to see it, she’s the biggest Peter Jackson fan, but when she heard what it was about, she vowed never to watch.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | May 23, 2021 11:31 PM |
The film shouldn’t have omitted the rape scene and the affair scene like the book has
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | May 23, 2021 11:36 PM |
Gosling also put on over 20 pounds for the role, despite him being told not to. He’s an asshole.
He dropped out/they let him go (whichever) the day before filming began. Thank God Marky Mark had literally just finished filming The Happening and was in PA, where this was filmed, and was able to do it.
| by Anonymous | reply 6 | May 23, 2021 11:41 PM |
Stanley Tucci used makeup to lighten his skin for the role. He, as an Italian man, felt he was too dark in complexion naturally to play a white suburbanite in 1973 Indiana.
He also wore blue contacts at his own will, he wasn’t told to. He also put on a suit to make his upper body thicker.
He struggled to play the role and found the character disturbing. He wanted to make himself look like someone else so people don’t see him as this character when he’s in other films.
He said if they kept the rape scene from the book on the film he would have refused to film it.
| by Anonymous | reply 7 | May 23, 2021 11:45 PM |
Peter Jackson wanted Rachel Weisz and Hugh Jackman as the parents, with Weisz signing on but Jackman declining. After that Jackson got Gosling but that feel apart, then he got his 3rd choice, Mark, which he ended up loving.
| by Anonymous | reply 9 | May 24, 2021 12:11 AM |
Where is this setting of Indiana coming from, the book was set and the movie filmed in Pennsylvania?
| by Anonymous | reply 10 | May 24, 2021 12:14 AM |
I meant PA. Wahlbergs character wears an Indiana University T-shirt at the beginning of the movie and I forgot it was set in PA, not Indiana. The character went to college there
| by Anonymous | reply 11 | May 24, 2021 12:19 AM |
Lynne Ramsay was originally going to adapt it. She thought all the afterlife stuff was corny and was planning to cut all of it out. She said Jackson's film felt like "My Little Pony".
| by Anonymous | reply 12 | May 24, 2021 12:28 AM |
The afterlife stuff should have been cut and the film should have kept the scenes that made it R instead of PG13
| by Anonymous | reply 13 | May 24, 2021 12:32 AM |
Thank you for posting this OP, I haven’t thought of the film or the book in years. I may need to revisit both.
| by Anonymous | reply 14 | May 24, 2021 12:35 AM |
R11, I am unfamiliar with the movie and don’t remember the book, but there is a school in PA called Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
| by Anonymous | reply 15 | May 24, 2021 12:43 AM |
R14 it’s on Netflix now. They added it. That is how I watched it. It’s quite good minus the afterlife scenes.
| by Anonymous | reply 16 | May 24, 2021 12:44 AM |
Ghastly film. Missed the entire point of the book.
| by Anonymous | reply 17 | May 24, 2021 12:44 AM |
True story. My (lesbian) sister-in-law literally went batshit on me and wanted to kill me for posting on Facebook back in the day that I considered the movie a waste of two hours.
| by Anonymous | reply 18 | May 24, 2021 12:45 AM |
R18 the older of my two young sisters was obsessed with the book and watched the movie numerous times. She was upset I never watched it. I text her after seeing it today to tell her I finally watched it lol
| by Anonymous | reply 19 | May 24, 2021 12:47 AM |
I didn't think the film did the book justice. I'm not sure any filmmaker could--the depiction of the afterlife is too tricky. One of the compelling things Sebold did was depict the afterlife as entirely subjective--people get what they want out of it, although they are limited to interacting only with others who have died. It makes Susie's restlessness and anger at not being able to let go of her mortal life that much sadder. And of course the violence in the story is so horrific it's difficult to depict without bordering on exploitation, but it's too central to the story to not be explicit about.
It's a book that asks so much of the audience that adding the visual story just ruins what makes it great.
| by Anonymous | reply 21 | May 24, 2021 1:00 AM |
It was a very popular book with teens in the early 2000s in the libraries I worked at, but I didn’t read it at the time and didn’t pay much attention to the plot, it was never in the library anyways. When the movie came out my friend and I were doing our annual birthday long weekend in Brandywine, Pennsylvania near where it’s set and filmed so it seemed the perfect movie to see. Well, it was not a good experience for me.
When I was 16, but looked much younger as I was late to mature and was short, my family had a cabin in a state park near Gettysburg and I had a summer job working at the concession stands at the lakes. One day too many of us showed up for work at 10:00 AM to open, so I offered to kill time and come back and start at noon with the added staff. It was too far to go home, so I decided to hang out and hike around the lake in the surrounding woods.
There was a secluded spot on the lake off the far end of the parking lot that I was exploring. There were a group of frogs that started croaking and I was creeping closer to look at them. From the other side of the trail a man emerged, quietly, and I thought he had heard them too and he moved closer and closer to me, but I just thought he was trying to see too. Then he reach out to grab my crotch and my arm. I panic and backed up and fell. But in a surge of adrenaline I sprang to my feet and started screaming “No!” and ran back the way I came.
At the concession stand I was freaked out and sobbing. I was also embarrassed and humiliated, but my coworkers called the State Park Rangers and I was talked into giving a statement even though I didn’t want to, but as they said it was to help protect other people. I don’t even know if I successfully hid it from my parents, especially being gay and not out it was very unnerving and not something I wanted to talk about with them, but my father knew the Rangers really well. It really fucked with my ability to hike and be alone in nature and feel safe and if I could defend myself.
Years later I found out that there had been a man passing through the area who abducted, tortured, raped and murdered young men and boys at that time. Around then there was also the stalking of a lesbian couple by a man who shot them and one had been murdered in the woods nearby. I thought I had really buried that all in my subconscious, but the movie, and especially being set in Pennsylvania, brought that up again. It really wrecked havoc with my emotions and feelings, especially since she does not survive. I was a mess for a few weeks afterwards and couldn’t bring myself to ever watch it again.
| by Anonymous | reply 22 | May 24, 2021 1:06 AM |
I was so upset at her for even going downstairs with him.
R22 that is terrible! I am sorry you went through that! So scary. I was also sexually assaulted by a man on the subway when I was 17! He grabbed at my arm and I shoved him and ran off. Thank God it was while we were stopped.
| by Anonymous | reply 23 | May 24, 2021 1:15 AM |
Does being grabbed by your arm count as sexual assault?
| by Anonymous | reply 24 | May 24, 2021 1:24 AM |
He groped me and grabbed me by my arm with the other hand. Sorry. Didn’t wanna get into detail.
| by Anonymous | reply 25 | May 24, 2021 1:27 AM |
A girl breaks down why the film is so disturbing for some people, outside of the obvious reasons.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 26 | May 24, 2021 1:28 AM |
[quote]She thought all the afterlife stuff was corny and was planning to cut all of it out.
It's literally the premise of the whole book.
| by Anonymous | reply 27 | May 24, 2021 1:31 AM |
R27 Bull. Shit. The entire subplot from the book of Mum fucking the cop and the outcast friends finding friendship together, both gone.
| by Anonymous | reply 28 | May 24, 2021 1:34 AM |
R28 you just said it. Subplot. Not the premise.
| by Anonymous | reply 29 | May 24, 2021 1:39 AM |
Can we acknowledge how wonderful Susan Sarandon was in this? She added energy and stole every scene she showed up in.
| by Anonymous | reply 30 | May 24, 2021 1:46 AM |
She reminded me of one of my friends Grandmas in this movie lol
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 31 | May 24, 2021 1:48 AM |
[quote]Bull. Shit. The entire subplot from the book of Mum fucking the cop and the outcast friends finding friendship together, both gone.
[quote] you just said it. Subplot. Not the premise.
Clearly, never read the book.
It is the entire premise of the book that the girl watches from "heaven" as her family tries to deal with her rape and murder, as well as her coming to terms with her own death from rape and murder.
| by Anonymous | reply 32 | May 24, 2021 1:50 AM |
Sorry that happened to you R22. I guess I was kind of lucky to have been a fatty when I was working summer jobs as a teen.
| by Anonymous | reply 33 | May 24, 2021 2:05 AM |
R32 Exactly. She sees how her death effects everyone in her life. And Gramps turns up.
| by Anonymous | reply 34 | May 24, 2021 2:21 AM |
TROLL POST
LOVELY BONES was universally panned when it came out and it flopped at the box office.
| by Anonymous | reply 35 | May 24, 2021 2:29 AM |
It was not universally panned, Tucci was nominated for every major award.
And who cares? We aren’t speaking about what the critics thought. We are speaking about what we thought. You can get off the thread r35
| by Anonymous | reply 36 | May 24, 2021 2:38 AM |
I read the book and was incredibly moved by it. I told my best friend to read and told her that there was a moment that made me sob. When she read the book, she knew the exact moment. Something about the book - even at the end - is so transcendent and spiritual.
| by Anonymous | reply 37 | May 24, 2021 2:50 AM |
This book and film definitely strikes a chord for those of us who were assaulted as children by a terrifying stranger.
| by Anonymous | reply 38 | May 24, 2021 3:02 AM |
R36 Oh it was a massive bomb.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 39 | May 24, 2021 3:02 AM |
Who cares? We are not discussing what critics said. We are discussing if we liked it or not. Some of us did. Some didn’t. That’s life. No one fucking cares about the critics r39. Stop trolling.
| by Anonymous | reply 40 | May 24, 2021 3:05 AM |
Groan. Why are you so invested in a second rate film that shat all over an incredibly human book? Half the civilians on RT hated the flick, and the 50% who liked it were Prancing fucking Ponies.
| by Anonymous | reply 41 | May 24, 2021 3:20 AM |
No one is invested. We are discussing. Again, if you don’t like it you can keep off this thread r41. It’s not hard.
| by Anonymous | reply 42 | May 24, 2021 3:26 AM |
Stay off the thread if you disagree? Honey, the thread is not going in a positive direction. maybe if you can't handle people strongly disagreeing with your shit taste, physician heal thyself.
| by Anonymous | reply 43 | May 24, 2021 3:29 AM |
I really enjoyed the book. But, I didn't think the movie was all that bad and Stanley Tucci was terrific as the creepy killer. A year later, Easy A came out and I went with a friend to see it in theaters. After we got out of the movie my friend made the joke that it was fun to see Stanley Tucci as a goofy dad character after playing a creepy killer in The Lovely Bones.
| by Anonymous | reply 44 | May 24, 2021 3:32 AM |
R43 are you illiterate? No one is saying leave for disagreeing. We are saying leave because you’re bitching that we are discussing this film and book (why are you so invested?) and bringing up critics when they have no relevance to our opinions and thoughts.
| by Anonymous | reply 45 | May 24, 2021 3:35 AM |
Snort, on a thread with 45 replies, 20 are from you.
| by Anonymous | reply 46 | May 24, 2021 3:39 AM |
Why are you on here starting drama? Get off the thread if us discussing it is bothering you.
| by Anonymous | reply 47 | May 24, 2021 3:43 AM |
If you want to read a REAL horror story you should try reading Alice Sebold's memoir "Lucky." It's the story of her rape and aftermath. Her rape was exceedingly brutal; she was tortured during it. It's stomach churning, what was done to her.
| by Anonymous | reply 48 | May 24, 2021 3:44 AM |
R48 Indeed, her writing is excellent.
R47 What don't you get about pointless bitchery, you stupid car wash cunt?
| by Anonymous | reply 49 | May 24, 2021 3:47 AM |
R22 Here, so I found that the surviving lesbian made a short documentary where she returns, for the first time, to the state park where her girlfriend was murdered with the film crew. It’s only 15 minutes, but very well done. There is also a very tasteful reenactment of them as young lovers and it’s quite heartbreaking. She became very involved in LGBT victim rights because of the experience.
i say the reenactment is tasteful, because they also made a feature film based on the true crime story that is quite salacious. I guess when something has been a court case all the information is in the public domain, so they can say it’s based on actual events. It too is filmed in the actual location and is called Dead Woman’s Hollow, which is the unfortunate name of the location. Bill Bryson also writes about it in his book A Walk in the Woods.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 50 | May 24, 2021 5:35 AM |
yikes; I never want to have another hookup again even after COVID
| by Anonymous | reply 51 | May 24, 2021 5:42 AM |
I kind of wonder if The Lovely Bones would have worked better as a minseries adaptation.
| by Anonymous | reply 52 | May 24, 2021 5:51 AM |
I was going to mention Lucky, as well. I don’t remember much about it other than her family treated her as damaged/crazy which made me said.
I just went back and reread the rape/murder scene in The Lovely Bones and I am glad it wasn’t filmed as written…. I mean, I understand why some people are saying it shouldn’t have been glossed over. In the movie, it seems like he just killed her quickly, so quickly she doesn’t even realize she’s dead. In the book, he tells her to undress so he can check if she is a virgin. She says she fought back but he still raped her. She describes him kissing her and it’s all revolting. Then when it’s over he says “why don’t you get up?” and then grabs a knife and presumably cuts her throat…although that isn’t clear.
| by Anonymous | reply 53 | May 24, 2021 2:06 PM |
R50 ugh that was heartbreaking. That vicious motherfucker. Looked up his picture and he looks “special.”
| by Anonymous | reply 54 | May 24, 2021 3:29 PM |
[quote]but it refers to something else altogether.
Um... what does the title refer to then?
| by Anonymous | reply 55 | May 24, 2021 3:43 PM |
Her bones are never found.
Title is explained here:
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 56 | May 24, 2021 3:51 PM |
I think Sebold used details from her own rape in the rape scene in "The Lovely Bones." The rapist in the novel kisses his victim; Sebold's rapist also made her kiss him and commanded her to "Kiss back." In 'The Lovely Bones" the killer makes his victim undress and comments "Big white panties." Sebold's rapist comments when she takes her clothes off: "Nice white titties." Yes, she must have used her own experience when writing the rape scene in her novel.
| by Anonymous | reply 57 | May 24, 2021 9:05 PM |
Ugh. Gross. I can see why Tucci balked.
| by Anonymous | reply 58 | May 24, 2021 10:13 PM |
I’m pretty sure some of the rape in this book really happened to the writer
| by Anonymous | reply 59 | May 28, 2021 3:28 AM |
The book is excellent, the film is a crappy cliffnotes adaptation with great actors.
It's shocking how bad the film is, considering Peter Jackson hit a home run with Heavenly Creatures
| by Anonymous | reply 60 | May 28, 2021 3:43 AM |
Didn’t see the film all the way through.
The book was one of the few times I wept reading a novel. The end made me cry like a baby. It was so good but I never want to read it again.
| by Anonymous | reply 61 | May 28, 2021 3:45 AM |
Oh, I can get off the thread, eh, r36?
Because I would EVER let a basic bitch with no taste who thinks awards are given for performances be the boss of me.
NOT.
Why don't you make me get off the thread?
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 62 | May 28, 2021 6:43 AM |
R61 not Mary! You actually made me wanna read it.
| by Anonymous | reply 63 | May 28, 2021 7:57 AM |
R61 You are a stone cold bitch if you can get through Charlotte’s Web dry eyed.
| by Anonymous | reply 64 | May 28, 2021 12:34 PM |
I confuse this film with Winter Bones which was out around the same time
| by Anonymous | reply 65 | May 28, 2021 1:36 PM |
[quote] Him and Rachel Weisz were wonderful
Oh, dear!
| by Anonymous | reply 66 | May 28, 2021 1:55 PM |
R11, there is an Indiana University in Pennsylvania.
Offsite Link| by Anonymous | reply 68 | May 28, 2021 8:55 PM |
R68 thanks! I assumed it was one of the ones in Indiana. There is more than one there.
| by Anonymous | reply 69 | May 28, 2021 9:21 PM |
There is also a Miami University in Ohio.
| by Anonymous | reply 70 | May 28, 2021 11:33 PM |
I read that Seebold was raped and almost murdered while at college. The novel is based on her subjective experiences but also on a real case in the seventies. I thought the film was moving and thought-provoking. You can't enjoy it, but you can appreciate it.
| by Anonymous | reply 71 | May 28, 2021 11:39 PM |
Her book Lucky is a memoir about her experience of the rape and the legal justice system.
| by Anonymous | reply 72 | May 28, 2021 11:46 PM |
Marky Mark did not blind that Vietnamese man. He was already blind.
Just getting this in early as it always comes up.
| by Anonymous | reply 73 | May 29, 2021 2:11 AM |
There's going to be a movie version of Sebold's memoir "Lucky" starring Victoria Pedretti, whoever the hell she is. I wonder how they'll do the rape scene, which was incredibly brutal. Her rapist didn't just rape her, he tortured her. I wonder if they'll tone it down.
| by Anonymous | reply 75 | May 30, 2021 7:04 AM |
I knew Alice as a teenager and cannot bring myself to read Lucky. She was a great girl and a great writer even back then.
| by Anonymous | reply 76 | May 30, 2021 3:11 PM |
