Those of you in places other than NY and L.A. waiting for Peter Jackson’s THE LOVELY BONES will have to wait a little longer. The L.A. Times is reporting that Paramount has pushed back the expansion of the film by a couple weeks, to JANUARY 15th. The main reason is to avoid all the competition from flicks that are doing mighty well in late December, like AVATAR, SHERLOCK HOLMES, THE BLIND SIDE, etc. In mid-January, BONES will be facing competition from a Jackie Chan piece of filth – er, comedy – called THE SPY NEXT DOOR, and the action thriller THE BOOK OF ELI. Not a whole lot of cross-over appeal.
Another reason for the delay is more interesting. Originally, BONES was being positioned as a prestige film, an end of the year awards contender. But something happened on the way to the red carpet: nobody really likes it. Reviews from critics have been mixed-to-poor, and the general word of mouth is not very good. However, Paramount now seems to be rethinking its campaign and targeting teenage girls (yes, them again). According to the L.A. Times, the film is tracking strongly with the 13-20 female demographic, and the studio has been screening the flick for high school and college girls. Really bizarre, but perhaps really smart, as Paramount scrambles to do something with this misfire.
I’ve seen THE LOVELY BONES, and unfortunately I’ll have to agree with the majority: it’s not very good. There are some interesting moments, a few striking visuals, and a really chilling performance from Stanley Tucci as an evil sonofabitch, but overall it definitely fails to capture the heart or the mind. It’s just kind of there. (I can also confirm that my audience was not feeling it at all; there were periodic chuckles throughout, and just a disinterested vibe that was palpable.)
Even cutie Rachel Weisz couldn’t save The Lovely Bones
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