There was a time in the last decade when it seemed that when people weren't reading the latest Dan Brown, their next choice was Alice Sebold's debut bestseller. But for the many people that regarded it as a high point of contemporary literature, there was an equally strong voice that derided it as not worthy of the praise it seemed to be receiving.
It's therefore an unpredictable choice for director Peter Jackson, and is a departure from his Lord of the Rings/King Kong fare. In fact it is most reminiscent of his breakthrough work, Heavenly Creatures.
Like the book, it is a work of two halves. A teenage girl (Saoirse Ronan) is brutally murdered by a local pervert. His identity is no secret to the viewer, nor to the girl, whose 'soul' ends up in a sort of inbetween fantasy world - Sebold's attempt at creating a pre-heaven environment. From here she can view and comment on events occurring on earth: the anguish her family are going through, her adolescent sister's path to becoming a young woman, and the continuing search for her killer.
The 'earth' sequences are often compelling: there is a scene towards the end of almost unbearable tension which is a masterclass of thriller direction and should be taught in film school. The 'other' world is less than convincing, along with one or two plotlines: but these are faults which emanate from the original source material.
Saoirse Ronan is impressive in the lead role and shows plenty of potential for the future. She more than holds her own against the likes of Stanley Tucci, Mark Wahlberg and Susan Sarandon. Audiences are likely to react in the same way that readers did to the book: some will love it, others will be less than convinced.
Paul Hurley
