Peter Jackson's movie adaptation of Alice Sebold's best-selling and award-winning novel, The Lovely Bones, is one of the few novel-based films that has been representative of -- if not as enjoyable as -- the book.

The Lovely Bones is the story of 14-year-old Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan), her family, and her murderer, told in Susie's perspective from heaven. Within the first five minutes of the movie, director Peter Jackson has endeared Susie to the viewer's heart. Susie is your average 70's middle-school girl, and you are immediately entwined in her family, friends, and crushes.

The Lovely Bones does an excellent job at disregarding religion completely. Somehow, although Susie Salmon dwells in heaven forever after her death, the prospect of God is not in sight. This makes the movie acceptable for viewers of all ethnicities and beliefs.

The family's reactions to Susie's murder are immaculately displayed throughout the movie as they are throughout the book. However, key scenes and characteristic seemed to be missing in the movie. The whole time, something seemed to be off. Susie wasn't enough involved in her surroundings to give the viewer a sense that the special effects were not completely fake. That is, the animation was so clearly digital and show-offy that, all throughout the film, you wanted to get up and go see Avatar.