Peter Jackson has made films that many have considered “instant classics”, such as The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, a bloated and unnecessary remake in the form of King Kong, and some little-seen but great cult classics such as Bad Taste, Heavenly Creatures and The Frighteners. His newest film, The Lovely Bones, adapted from Alice Sebold’s novel of the same name, is kind of a combination of all of the above.

The story focuses on Susie Salmon, a fourteen year-old girl who lives in rural Pennsylvania with her parents and two siblings. She describes to us, via narration, what she wants to be when she grows up, her disliking of a snowglobe with a penguin in it, and even how she normally gets the “skeevies” when she sees someone looking at her weirdly. She didn’t get that last feeling soon enough, which inevitably leads to her murder and time spent in the “in-between” Heaven and Earth.

We see that the Salmons are an idyllic family as they get Susie a camera for her birthday. She is in the throes of her first unrequited love, and even has to suffer through a film club that makes her watch Othello with that guy “who has two first names. Laurence. Oliver.” It’s after this class, and a bold move from the boy that she likes, which leads her into the hands of Mr. Harvey.

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The big screen adaptation of Alice Sebold’s best selling novel The Lovely Bones, which we reviewed right here, finally has a trailer and we’ve to it right here for you. In case you’re not familiar, the story follows the tragically short life and afterlife of Susie Salmon, a young girl who is murdered one day on her way home from school.

After that event, the story followers her family as they attempt to understand and come to terms with Susie’s death and also find her killer. It also follows Susie who, now in her own personal version of heaven, looks down and narrates the story as she watches her family attempt to get on with their lives. While doing this, she’s also consumed with a mission to help track down her killer.

The Lovely Bones, which features Mark Wahlberg, Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz and Saoirse Ronan as Susie, hits theaters on December 11. Until then, check out the trailer after the jump.

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Initially, I never intended to read The Lovely Bones because I assumed it was a touchy-feely tearjerker about the brutal death of a child and how a family copes with their loss.  And well, who needs that if you read the newspapers or even watch the evening news?   Let’s face it, the media never seems to have a shortage of stories covering the depravity of humankind towards children.  Quite frankly, it’s depressing.  That was initially, when the book was first published, several years ago.

However, when the book came out in paperback a couple of years later, I was lured by the hype and hyperbole of glowing book reviews and Costco’s low prices. Yes, indeed, I succumbed to the pressure of mass marketing and found myself the owner of a brand new paperback edition of The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold.

I have to admit that the first reading of the book a few years ago left me vaguely dissatisfied.  Now don’t get me wrong.  The writing was excellent.  The details and authenticity of the characters were creative and compelling.  The story line was engaging and well paced.  And the first person voice of the fourteen years old, alliteratively named, Susie Salmon, the victim, who narrates the story was pure genius.

After all, it is practically the ultimate voyeuristic experience, going inside the mind of the victim, seeing through her eyes, before, during and after her brutal rape and murder by a neighbor, and then following her to heaven and then back to earth again.  Talk about your creative license!  Isn’t that what good literature is all about?  It takes us above and beyond the ordinary, engages us in a world we would not otherwise know, and allows us to feel, think and see, through the eyes of another, from a different perspective.  It nourishes our minds and emotions and broadens our horizons.  The Lovely Bones satisfies all these criteria, and does so with a sense of quiet composure and restraint.

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