The story of a 14-year-old girl who is raped and murdered is a tough subject for a novel, yet adapting that novel for the screen is even harder. With a budget of $100 million, Peter Jackson has taken Alice Sebold’s beloved novel and turned it into an overdone computer-generated film.

The film at first separates itself from other mysteries as its main character Susie (Saoirse Ronan) narrates her own murder from the afterlife. The story begins with the ideal suburban family made up of Jack Salmon (Mark Whalberg), his wife Abigail (Rachel Weisz) and their three children. Suddenly, Susie’s unexplained death tears the Salmons apart.  

The highlight of the film is Ronan’s heartfelt performance, as her stunning acting brings her scenes in heaven to life. She is something rare in a film that’s only able to capture believable drama sporadically.

To create Susie’s afterlife Jackson produces a special-effect overdose, full of candy colored, cheesy backdrops and unconstrained sentimentality. At first it’s gorgeous to look at, but midway through the film it becomes outlandish.

Somewhere in the director’s film is the tragic story about a young girl that longs to be told with unflinching honesty. Unfortunately, Jackson’s visuals take away most of the human feeling in the story.

“The Lovely Bones” was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson and directed by Peter Jackson.