Jeg har problemer med å forklare dere hvor absurd store forventninger jeg har til Peter Jacksons adaptasjon av Alice Sebolds bestselger The Lovely Bones (Alle mine kjære). En tidvis gnistrende roman adaptert av en regissør som sålangt i sin karriere ikke har tråkket feil, med tematisk og narrativt slektskap til hans mesterlige Heavenly Creatures -- dette kan ikke gå galt!

Og det ser det da heller ikke ut til at det har gjort. Filmen hadde premiere i London i går kveld, og de første anmeldelsene er tildels veldig positive. Riktignok reagerer noen på Jacksons valg i adaptasjonen, andre mener filmen mangler overordnet rytme og flyt, men i det store og hele omtales filmen som enda en triumf for regissøren. Det interessante er faktisk hvordan anmelderne kappes om å utnevne sin favorittskuespiller, favorittøyeblikk eller akkurat hvilken teknisk disiplin som er den suverent beste.

Her er et par utdrag. Først ut den mest kritiske, deretter i et crescendo fra veldig kritisk til overstrømmende positive. Det kan virke som filmen deler anmelderne like mye som boka i sin tid gjorde:

Peter Jackson‘s infatuation with fancy visual effects mortally wounds The Lovely Bones. Alice Sebold’s cheerily melancholy bestseller, centered upon a 14-year-old girl who narrates the story from heaven after having been brutally murdered, provides almost ready-made bigscreen material. But Jackson undermines solid work from a good cast with show-offy celestial evocations that severely disrupt the emotional connections with the characters. The book’s rep, the names of Jackson and exec producer Steven Spielberg, and a mighty year-end push by Paramount/DreamWorks will likely put this over with the public to a substantial extent, but it still rates as a significant artistic disappointment. (Variety)

It’s not that The Lovely Bones is a bad movie, exactly. It is handsomely made and strongly acted, while its woozy, lullaby ambience recalls Jackson’s work on the brilliant Heavenly Creatures, before he set forth on his epic voyage through The Lord of the Rings. (The Guardian)

Jackson captures the grim essence of the novel even while compressing much of its character development and plot detail. And if the rhythm is problematic, his film-making bravado is constantly in evidence most notably in the heart-stopping scene when Lindsey breaks into Harvey’s house. (Screen Daily)

Sensitively cast --  Lovely Bones is a touching, at times distressing film. It deals with loss, grief, rage, familial breakdown and love, most of all love. But it’s also energetic and entertaining, the camera already moving whenever Jackson cuts into a scene and the horror/thriller elements given just enough fizz to recall the director’s early genre forays. Likewise the emotion, Lovely Bones teetering along the thin, thin line that separates genuinely affecting from schmaltzy. How can it not, with colours popping from heavenly vistas and Wahlberg’s wide, earnest eyes rimmed with tears. (Total Film)

Susie, played wonderfully by 15-year-old Saoirse Ronan, has decided not to travel on to heaven and exists in a middle point. This other world allows Jackson to set his incredible imagination free. He creates something even more amazing than his Middle-earth fantasy. The effects are breathtaking. The Lovely Bones has everything -- a creepy killer who builds dollhouses (Stanley Tucci), comic relief from the wonderful Susan Sarandon as Susie’s glamorous gran Lynn and a touching teen love story. Ronan is a revelation as Susie, a girl who not only loses her life but her innocence too. The Sneak confidently predicts an Oscar nomination for her and the film is sure to be up for several other gongs, including Best Picture. (The Sun)

Til slutt et klipp fra filmen, som for min del bare understreker hvor ubehagelig, men samtidig vakker denne filmen kommer til å bli: