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The Lovely Bones

The Lovel Bones title card

Year - 2009
Studio - WingNut Films, DreamWorks SKG
Stars - Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan, Stanley Tucci,Susan Sarandon,Jake Abel, Michael Imperioli
Director - Peter Jackson
Writing Credits - Fran Walsh (screenplay), Philippa Boyens (screenplay), Peter Jackson (screenplay, ) Alice Sebold (novel)
Music - Brian Eno

Synopsis

Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is a happy and well-adjusted 14-year old, living with her father Jack, (Mark Wahlberg, mother Abigail (Rachel Weisz, and younger sister and brother (Rose McIver and Christian Thomas Ashdale). She has a crush on Ray (Reece Ritchie), a handsome fellow student, moved to Pennsylvania from England. She admits to her grandmother (Susan Sarandon) that she's never been kissed, but things are looking up for her when Ray invites her to meet him at the gazebo at the Mall.

On her way home from school, Susie walks through a cornfield, where a neighbor man, George Harvey (Stanley Tucci) invites her to see a hideout that he has built under the ground as a place for she and her friends to hang out. She reluctantly agrees to see it but, when she attempts to leave, Harvey murders her.

Lovely Bones poster

Susie is never found, and her obviously distraught parents find life unbearable without her. Jack constantly badgers Police Detective Len Fenerman (Michael Imperioli) with theories about his many suspects. Abigail leaves Jack, and Grandma Lynn moves in to care for the children.

Susie's soul exists in the middle ground between Heaven and Earth, a wondrously realized paradise with constantly changing vistas of mountains, forests, and fields. Her companion there, Holly (Nikki Soo Hoo) tries to help her advance, but Susie knows she can't go on to Heaven until her family can find peace and acceptance.

Susie's sister Lindsay becomes suspicious of the behavior and character of neighbor George Harvey, as does Jack. Visiting Harvey as he constructs a "duck blind" in his back yard, Jack senses that he is the killer and attacks him, only to have Detective Fenerman warn him that no evidence exists. However, Lindsay sneaks into Harvey's house and discovers a hidden diary, detailing his plans for Susie's murder. She gives it to the police, but Harvey escapes before they can apprehend him.

Harvey takes a safe containing Susie's body to country, to dispose of it in an old sinkhole. Watching him from a barn is Ray, with his new girlfriend, Rose (Carolyn Dando) who has psychic abilities. Susie's soul enter's Rose, and she and Ray kiss. Susie can now move on to eternity, along with the souls of Harvey's other young victims.

When Harvey offers a young girl a ride in his car, she tells him to "piss off". An icicle falls from a tree above, striking him on the head and causes him to tumble over the side of a cliff to his death.

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