The Case for Meatiness

Is it too much to ask for a beautiful film to have emotional depth these days? Because there are a huge number of painfully gorgeous films out there, with stunning visuals, imaginative special effects and luscious colour, but beneath the glorious surface beats a weak heart and a thin layer of flesh.

And yes, this is a dig at Avatar, which is of course an incredible technical achievement for which the story serves the purpose of connecting the different scenes together, but little else. But it is also a bit of a deeper dig at the Lovely Bones, a film which is based on a popular (though unread by me) novel and which has attracted its share of criticism.

Not because it is a bad film. Just that it tends to focus on the visual splendour of an imagined afterlife, and the tension in tracking down a murderer, and kind of skips any real attempts to create characters with depth or emotional resonance.

It’s a shame too: Mark Wahlberg puts on his best 1970s Calvin Kleins and does a great job as the Dad; Susan Sarandon pumps up her hair and lights up her cigarette as the glamourous Grandma; and Stanley Tucci puts on disturbing blue contacts and acts all creepy. But no one is really given a lot to do, as Saoirse Ronan, haunting as ghostly Susie Salmon, narrates what is going on and what everyone is feeling from her spectral gazebo. The living characters play a small role (Rachel Weiss is even more wasted than most), shine briefly as they contribute something to the story, and then are gone, as they fade from Susie’s attention.

All of which is fine, if all you want to do is lose yourself in what is a murder mystery with an otherworldly twist, and which, for the duration of The Lovely Bones, I was – and as I also was with Avatar. It’s only when coming out of the movie, coming to write about it and review it, that the flaws in the storytelling really come through.

I would hate to say of such a beautiful movie as this (and Avatar) to “leave your brain at the door”, as they are too good for that, but similarly, don’t go in expecting a story that will knock your socks off. Instead, go in expecting a film that will blow your mind, and leave your heart relatively untouched.

Verdict: The Lovely Bones shows how to waste a talented cast when what you really want to do is make a beautiful looking movie. That’s a very harsh criticism though of what is actually a very watchable, if occasionally disturbing, film. 7 bones out of 10.

Revised Avatar rating in light of this (just to show that I can review my decisions based on new evidence): 8 unobtainium balls out of 10.