- not worth your time

46.250

I thought this was an interesting interpretation of the novel. I liked how the dream-like states were presented. Suzzy was excellent. the casting for most of the other roles could have been a lot better and the script was pretty bad.

Acting was fine. The mood was set very well. Some great dialogue. Just not a lot happening in the story. Characters are introduced and amount to nothing. I can see why this book was good, but it just doesn't translate over very well to this media.

I have absolutely NO idea what Jackson tries to achieve in this bizarre (and extremely uninspired) blend of new age hippie-nonsense, suspense-thriller, photoshop-visuals and 70s-nostalgia. Impressive that so much talent can make something so incredibly dull...

so heavy handed

I read the book for A-level and thought that, while extremely corny and sometimes manipulative, it was pretty good. Unfortunately, Jackson completely mangles the story, particularly the climax which merges a scene one-sixth of the way through the novel with the actual climax. The whole thing feels empty and confused, bordering on offensive, and the generally good acting can't come close to saving it. What a disappointment.

Slipping past Sebold's quondam feminist protest (briefly glimpsing Germaine Greer's The Female Eunuch, for example), Jackson goes to the edge of lurid sentimentality.

Good performances can't totally save this strange sad film.

would a 14 year old really be that stupid? im not so sure. and fuck you mark wahlberg, you are the worst actor in anything outside of the departed

A look a love, life and what it all means.

Sad, moving, emotional, Tucci was great, but some parts of the story left a lot to be desired and the cgi was a bit overdone.

good

Wonderful performances by Stanley Tucci as one of the sleekiest, creepiest bad guys this year and Susan Sarandon as the grandmother. Spoilers: The empathy for Susie and her family might have increased if the rape and murder scene had been shown. As it was there was no horror to outweigh the cutesy (albeit beautiful) passages in Susie's heaven and you couldn't fathom her denial. I expected it to come up eventually as it is the 1st chapter of the book. It didn't and it's a worse film for it.

Interesting enough and well directed at times but you get the feeling TLB's 'different' vibe is due to the fact it never really knows what type of film it wants to be. The final 15 minutes of tying up loose ends are so insulting and puke-worthy they make a real mockery of the decent effort that precedes them, and very almost whip a star off its rating. Worth one watch.

I agree with the others - Tucci made the film. Jackson was out of his element!

Enjoyability 18/25 Visuals 13/15 Audio 6/10 Acting 7/10 Story/Plot 20/25 Production Values 8/10 Intuitiveness/Ambitiousness 5/5 Bonus 4/10