My name is Salmon, Like the fish, First name Suzie.

So after a year and a half of finding out about this gorgeous story, I finally sat down to 'The Lovely Bones', based on the book by Alice Sebold. I was told about this in my first year, and me and my housemates were excitedly anticipating its release for some time, only having to wait even longer for it to come out. I decided to read the book before the film, something i rarely manage to do, but this time i surprised myself, and stormed through it in a record time (for me!) I couldn't put it down, and the intrigue after reading the first couple of pages, in which the story had been laid out, i wondered what more was included in the story. I'd love to read it a second time to refresh my memory.

I have been a great fan of Peter Jackson since The Lord Of The Rings which i fell in love with in my early teens, and is still unbeaten by any film in my personal opinion. I knew that where Jackson stood now, and the team he had behind him, he would create a beautiful interpretation of this film; and he didn't dissapoint. The visuals of the memories, the metaphors and visions of her heaven were stunning, and subtle at the same time. You really felt for Suzie while she was in the 'inbetween' which is what the story was all about. Lots of tear-jerking points throughout the film, and of course i knew the end twist would get me bad, out of pure happiness for her.

I have heard some dissapointed, and let-down reviews of this film from a few friends, and so i was also annoyingly switched-on to look out for these bits and make my own opinion of it, but i think having read the book helped a lot. The reasons behind the characters actions aren't abundantly clear, but if you concentrate you can see why they act the way they do.

Other than that, i think the film flowed well, the murderer was just as sinister as in the book, and Ray wasn't overly mushy like a new Robert Pattinson. Just the right amount of lovey-dovey scenes to pay respect to the story. I loved Mark Wahlberg as the dad, and the relationships between the family were portrayed well, especially considering so much of the background explained in the story could not be shown.
I only wish some more of the events in the book could have been included, but as ever this will never be possible to achieve in a standard 2.5 hour film.

Over all, worth the wait in my opinion, i am very tempted to go and watch it in the cinema again (when it FINALLY gets to the south coast!) and i thoroughly enjoyed every painful and beautiful moment. Good Work Peter Jackson!

HG rating: 9/10 stars