Mid-year favorite among Oscar predictions, early awards season no-show, and eventual Best Picture nominee, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has been met with mixed reviews and fluctuating reception. Armed with the likes of Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, and director Stephen Daldry (The Hours, The Reader), it stands to reason that this 9/11 drama would presumably amount to a crowd-pleasing hard-hitter. Instead, it yanks so hard at the heartstrings that the heart eventually becomes too numb to emote the way the writer desires.
Non-actor Thomas Horn plays a New York boy, Oskar, whose beloved father (Hanks) dies on September 11th. Oskar may or may not have Asperger’s syndrome—his test results were inconclusive. He is intelligent, resourceful, anti-social, and incredibly obsessive. Once his father dies and he is left to live with his mother in their small apartment, his life becomes consumed by reliving his father’s demise on 9/11 and devising a covert reconnaissance expedition to find a keyhole somewhere in the city that his father’s mysterious leftover key will unlock. While this leads to many moments that feel incredibly outlandish and contrived (particularly in a closing revelation), the film’s dedication to meaningful character interactions, rather than realism in its plot, is enough to warrant a suspension of disbelief.
The performances are an enjoyable display, but tend to feel constrained by the meandering direction and unbalanced presences of particular characters. Max von Sydow has earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his understated portrayal of a mute neighbor who has opted to have “yes” and “no” tattooed on each of his hands to answer questions—an aversion to nodding or shaking his head, or simply a frivolous stylistic inclusion among many?
While the film generally transcends hackneyed Hollywood sentimentality, it does get bogged down by the tremendously far-fetched ending. The tender moments are genuinely weepy, but they fill the film’s cracks like a syrup and are somewhat hindered by Oskar’s limited emotional range and the supporting cast’s limited screen time. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close has garnered six awards and six nominations this season, including two Oscar nominations. It is rated PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images, and language. Click HERE for showtimes in Albuquerque.
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