If the Disney Channel ever made a movie about a 14-year-old girl being brutally raped and killed, it would be called "The Lovely Bones."

Unfortunately, this film, based on the 2002 Alice Sebold novel of the same name, becomes overbearingly corny at its most crucial points. It's all a product of lazy storytelling and poor character development, which comes as a shock considering Peter Jackson, who brilliantly brought the renowned "Lord of the Rings" trilogy to the big screen, directed the movie.

Actually, the first 30 to 45 minutes of "The Lovely Bones" aren't too bad. It's 1973 in a small Pennsylvania town, and viewers are immediately introduced to Susie Salmon (played by Saoirse Ronan), a happy-go-lucky high school freshman who loves taking rolls and rolls of photos and has a crush on a senior boy from England.

After a film club meeting runs long one day, Susie decides to take a shortcut home through a cornfield. It's there that she runs into her neighbor, George Harvey (played by Stanley Tucci). He asks her to check out a project he's been working on in the cornfield. Susie reluctantly accepts his offer and follows him into an underground hideout he says he built for the local kids. She doesn't leave the cellar alive.

In the afterlife, Susie's spirit finds herself stuck in a realm in between heaven and earth. Back in Pennsylvania, Susie's parents (played by Mark Wahlberg and Rachel Weisz) try to cope with their loss, and Harvey dodges the police.

Audience: Prepare for the nosedive.

With the introductions out of the way, Peter Jackson focuses too much energy on the confusing fantasy sequences of the "in-between land" and not enough on the connections between the characters.

Weisz and Wahlberg turn in good performances as Abigail and Jack Salmon, but the roles are so limited that neither actor makes a significant impact. Several of the pair's scenes, such as Abigail's citrus sabbatical, go absolutely nowhere.

Tucci excels as the cold, calculating Harvey. The problem is that Harvey's character appears to be merely a serial killer stereotype, complete with a moustache, wired glasses and a tan jacket.

And poor, poor Susan Sarandon. Sarandon plays Grandma Lynn, who attempts to help the family cope with Susie's death, but Jackson relegates the character to a comic relief caricature. One of the scenes even has her swimming through suds from an overflowing washer with her grandson. You know, Disney Channel stuff.

Finally, we get to Ronan. She also does well with what she's given. She's basically asked to play a 10-year-old girl in a 14-year-old's body. Being innocent is fine and dandy, but Susie Salmon is just a little too cutesy to be believable.

"The Lovely Bones" needs a shot of subtlety. Everything about the movie is over-the-top, from the near-heaven scenes to the cheesy ending. Alice Sebold should be pretty angry because this film will ultimately be considered one of Peter Jackson's biggest failures. Move over, "King Kong."

Shea Conner | Stjoelive staff