The Lovely Bones

When your last four films made more than $2billion, it’s safe to say you never need to work again.
In the case of some filmmakers, that would not be a bad thing, but in Peter Jackson’s case, fans are chomping at the bit to see what he’s got up his sleeve next.
The Lovely Bones is a marked departure from fantasy epics The Lord of the Rings and King Kong, though it’s not without fantastical elements.
The tale of a murdered Pennsylvania teenager watching over her nearest and dearest from heaven has been in the can for some time now, but Jackson was in no hurry to release it.
Instead, he decided to open it in late January as awards folks peruse the huge list of contenders for Baftas, Oscar, Golden Globes and the like.
Is it any good?
Well Jackson hasn’t made a bad film since Meet The Feebles, his outrageous puppet movie that was sandwiched inbetween low budget classics Brain Dead and Bad Tase and the glorious LOTR and Kong.
With a terrific cast including Susan Sarandon, Rachel Weisz, Saoirse Ronan and Mark Wahlberg, this is definitely one of the year’s most intriguing offerings.
Purists who love the Alice Sebold novel may moan that it’s not faithful enough to the source material, but the same could be said to LOTR; Jackson improved on that epic tome, and some could say he does the same here.
So while we wait to see what New Zealand’s most lucrative filmmaker does with his animated version of Tintin, here’s the latest chance to see Jackson back on fine form with an intelligent, dazzling slice of drama that should linger long after the closing credits have rolled.