“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” deals with a very difficult subject: the attacks of 9/11. But this film is much more than that. It’s also a story about journeys and taking risks, dealing with grief and moving forward.
14 year-old Thomas Horn was chosen to play young Oskar Schell, the main character of the story, by director Stephen Daldry when he saw Horn competing on “Kids Jeopardy”. And Horn is excellent in this very challenging role, which required him to deliver a tremendous amount of dialogue and raw emotion in practically every single scene.
Oskar is very smart but he also has issues with anxiety and socialization. His father (played by Tom Hanks) knew how to get the best out of his son. They loved to play word games and he would send Oskar on adventures throughout NYC that would force him to use his mind and talk with people. When his father dies in the World Trade Center attacks, Oskar and his mother (Sandra Bullock) are devastated, unable to make sense out of what happened.
A year later, while in his father closet, Oskar finds a key that he believes his father left him as part of a final adventure. So he begins a quest to find the lock that goes with the key, hoping what’s inside will provide some answers. Along the way Oskar meets many people, some who change his life as he does theirs.
“Extremely Loud and Incredible Close” is based on a novel which went much more into the details of the 9/11 attacks. For his film Daldry has simplified things. This is Oskar’s story: a young boy trying, in his own way, to deal with the sudden loss of his father. But the script and the performances make it work. The film is over 2-hours long, but you stay with it the entire time. Solid supporting performances from Max Von Sydow and Viola Davis compliment the work of Horn, Bullock and Hanks, who is only in a handful of scenes.
As has been the trend with many end of the year releases (including “J. Edgar” and “The Iron Lady”), flashbacks are used extensively, as we see (and hear, in heart-breaking phone messages) the events of 9/11 as they are happening, in bits-and-pieces, throughout the movie. By the end we get the full story of that day for this family, and it helps make for a believable conclusion. The flashback clips help build to a suspenseful climax as Oskar’s quest with the key is also coming to an end.
“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” is rated PG-13, mostly for the realistic and tragic subject matter. It’s appropriate for teens and up, but it’s tricky to recommend. Anyone who lost a loved one or was personally effected by 9/11 in other ways may want to avoid this film, as some scenes may be very tough to handle, even 10 years later. This movie is powerful and quite sad.
On The Official Kid Critic Report Card, “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” gets a B+. It was one of the best films of 2011 and definitely deserved it’s Best Picture Oscar nomination.