Talking Pictures

Based on the best-selling novel, Peter Jackson takes into the lives of a family whose 14 year-old daughter is brutally murdered. However in this story we see most of the events through her eyes as she’s waiting to pass into heaven. This is a very strong film with excellent performances by the main cast.

But it is Stanley Tucci’s turn as the killer that makes this film chilling as it tries to be comforting. Tucci has for years been an unsung cinema hero of mine, a man who can play any role, and in this performance he is absolutely mesmerizing.

The Lovely Bones is not for everyone, it is a dark movie in places, but it well worth your time to see. It gets a B and is rated PG-13 for mature thematic material, disturbing violent content and language.

One of the problems I have with films boasting large casts is usually the director and screenwriter do not know what to do with all of them. This is the case with the new DeNiro film “Everybody’s Fine.”

It seems more like everybody’s lost in this family drama about re-connecting. DeNiro plays the patriarch of a family who has just lost his wife. It seems his wife was better at communicating with the kids and now as his loneliness creeps up on him, he wants to connect with his 4 children.

The film has a pretty good cast including Kate Beckinsale, Sam Rockwell and Drew Barrymoore but all of them get lost in the shuffle. In the end Everybody’s Fine might have made a better Hallmark movie than a big feature film. It gets a C and is rated PG-13 for thematic elements and language.