Irish actress shines in disappointing 'The Lovely Bones'

Director: Peter Jackson

Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucco, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz

Cert: 12

Few of the cast emerge with credit from Jackson’s deeply-flawed screen translation of Alice Sebold’s emotional and literate novel, but you can certainly exclude young Ronan from this assessment … the Irish lass is growing into a fine, mature actress with a wonderful future.

She plays Susie, a 14-year-old murder victim now in a Heavenly waiting-room watching over her grieving and troubled parents (Weisz and Wahlberg) and pondering possible revenge on her evil killer, neighbour Tucco, or the possibility of healing.

It is, certainly in book form, an emotional and poetic story but it fails to succeed on screen largely because, for all his protestations otherwise, Jackson – he of 'Lord of the Rings' fame – relies too much on effects rather than human input.

Aside from Ronan, Tucco does better as the ghastly neighbour while Weisz has been given little to work with and Wahlberg doesn’t have the depth to bring home his character with conviction.

Star Rating: 3/5