The Lovely Bones

A group of friends and I got to see a preview of The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson's upcoming flick based on Alice Sebold's book by the same name. As we argued back and forth about the religiosity of the interpretation and the room the film left for the viewer to make up his or her own mind, I wondered what impact Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens had on the choice to make The Lovely Bones. In a pause, I asked the question out loud, and all but the film critic looked at me with blank stares. One asked, "Who are they?"

There were about a dozen of us in the room, all of whom love film and see lots of movies. They knew who played the predator in The Lovely Bones (I couldn't name him, but it was Stanley Tucci) and knew all the films Peter Jackson had directed. But they didn't know the names Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens. Maybe you don't either, but these are people who pride themselves with their knowledge and understanding of the film arts.

If I have my way, I won't let you be clueless about these women.

Other than Walsh being Jackson's wife, and Boyens being the couple's neighbors, they are Jackson's closest collaborators, and why, in my opinion, movies like The Lord of the Rings trilogy and even King Kong are films that women can love as much as men. The threesome write together, and Jackson calls Walsh his "first assistant director." In a recent interview in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Jackson says:

They're very important right across the board, not just in writing characters like Susie. We write as a team, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens and I. I don't really categorize people as male or female in a funny kind of way, maybe because I've spent most of my life working with women. My producer is a woman and I've had a woman first assistant director for 20 years. I like women more than men in a funny kind of way, to where I'd rather work with them as collaborators. They're more refreshing, they're funnier and I find with women there's no ego involved. None of that blokey kind of macho nonsense.

Now if only the rest of Hollywood could get the impact women could have on film, beyond chick flicks.

I've read two of Alice Sebold's books, The Lovely Bones and Lucky, and it's hard for me to see this film from the point of view of someone who hasn't read her work, so I'm biased. I'm also a survivor, and The Lovely Bones is a tale for survivors. Outside of these facts, it's visually beautiful in both the fantastical scenes and the real-life scenes. The screenplay is an appropriate adaptation and is faithful to the book. Sebold's imagery and themes are reflected in both the screenplay and cinematography. It will knock your socks off if you see it on the big screen.

My rating: Worth $10, hiring a babysitter, and $10 for crappy popcorn and a pop that'll make you get up in the middle of the film to pee.