Entertainment 
A father's love rivals above others
By Monique Dos Anjos
Saoirse Ronan stars as Susie Salmon in Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens’ adaptation of The Lovely Bones, a novel written by Alice Sebold.
Susie was murdered at the age of 14. She is neither in heaven nor in hell, but a place that changes with her every smile and every tear drop. It’s limbo, but Susie likes to call it her “in-between”; between life and the after-life. She has not fully moved on. Susie watches her family, friends and her murderer. The novel can be best describes as a tragedy turned into joy.
“I read the book this year for the first time and I absolutely loved it,” Ronan said. “I felt every emotion possible.”
“It’s an emotional experience, but it’s far from a grim and depressing story,” director Peter Jackson said in an interview with Vanity Fair. “I found it to be both hopeful and strangely comforting.”
This is Jackson’s first film since King Kong in 2005. Jackson told HBO insider that The Lovely Bones didn’t read like a movie script, but the story was powerful enough to portray on film.
Saoirse Ronan was nominated for best supporting actress in her first leading film role Atonement as a naïve 13-year-old that falsely accuses her sister’s lover of rape. Ronan is a bright young lady that takes on the fullness of her characters.
Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz take on the roles of Susie Salmon’s parents, and Susan Sarandon as her grandmother. Jackson calls it an “emotional thriller.”
“She wants to be back on Earth with her family and she knows she can’t do that,” Ronan said about her character. “It’s about her love for her family and not the hate and vengeance that she has for her murder.”
The Lovely Bones opened nationwide on Jan. 15.