Metacritic Movie Ratings
The Lovely Bones Reviews

A sample of reviews from critics across the country.

• 58

  out of 100

  Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum

  A sad-but-hopeful, dramatic-but-gentle fairy tale intentionally made less upsetting for teens.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The New York TimesA.O. Scott

  The filmmakers' evident affection for the book expresses itself as a desperate scramble to include as much of it as possible, which leaves the movie feeling both overcrowded and thin.

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• 50

  out of 100

  USA TodayClaudia Puig

  Some books are not meant to be adapted to the big screen. Alice Sebold's best-selling The Lovely Bones falls into that category.

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• 50

  out of 100

  Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan

  By turns warmly sentimental, serial-killer sinister and science-fiction fantastical, The Lovely Bones was an unlikely book to achieve worldwide success. In the film version, those mismatched elements come back to haunt the story, so to speak, making the final product more hit-and-miss than unblemished triumph.

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• 50

  out of 100

  The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt

  Jackson and his team tell a fundamentally different story. It's one that is not without its tension, humor and compelling details. But it's also a simpler, more button-pushing tale that misses the joy and heartbreak of the original.

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• 40

  out of 100

  VarietyTodd McCarthy

  Jackson undermines solid work from a good cast with show-offy celestial evocations that severely disrupt the emotional connections with the characters.

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• 38

  out of 100

  Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert

  A deplorable film with this message: If you're a 14-year-old girl who has been brutally raped and murdered by a serial killer, you have a lot to look forward to.

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See all The Lovely Bones movie reviews at Metacritic.com