Review: 'Extremely loud & Incredibly Close'

Film: Extremely loud & Incredibly Close
Cast: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow, Viola Davis, John Goodman
Director: Stephen Daldry
Rating: ***

Extremely loud & Incredibly Close, an adaptation of the 2005 book of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer. The film sees young Oskar Schell, an 11-year-old who tries to find closure after terror attacks on the World Trade Center on 9/11 robbed him of his father.

Oskar, we learn, might be suffering from a high functioning form of autism.

Drawing insights from emotionally detached observations and the bottomless sea of facts and figures in his head, he is, however, plagued by irrational fears of everyday phenomena like public transport and tall buildings. 

Never one to talk down to his socially awkward son, Thomas Schell (Hanks) was the perfect father, always devoting quality time to him on intellectual pursuits unlike the boy’s preoccupied working mom Linda (Bullock)

With the randomness of the tragedy always confounding the logic-seeking boy, he gets a chance of what he thinks can reconnect him with his father. One day, when he walks into his fathers hallowed closet, he breaks a vase concealing an envelope with the word ‘Black’ on it containing a key.

Armed with his trusty tambourine to soothe his nerves, the lad embarks on a systematically planned mission involving visiting every person named Black in New York to narrow down on the man/woman who may hold what he is looking for.

Thomas Horn, a quiz show winner with no prior acting experience, puts up the most stunning performance from a child star in their first major film since Super 8’s Reilly Griffiths. His was a role that could be annoying and shrill because of the bluntness and asocial nature of the character. But Horn evokes a certain quirkiness and makes apparent vulnerability behind the boy’s defences.  He pulls of the character’s verbosity (an Asperger trait, not bad screenwriting) with sheer strength. Bullock, as a woman who knows she will never match up to her husband as a parent, gives the film gravity with her presence.

Von Sydow, as the mysterious renter who Oskar’s grandmother doesn’t want to meet (She must have seen Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring where his character kills a young boy), gives a silent performance as good as any of the players in The Artist. When he unexpectedly joins the boy on his quest, his is a wonderful placidness that contrasts the boy’s inner turbulence.

Visually, the movie is quite appealing with its soaring aerial shots and general inventiveness. A jarring montage depicting Oskar's perceptions of his numerous fears after he steps out for the first time in particular sticks out.

It has been alleged that Extremely loud & Incredibly Close seeks to exploit emotions surrounding a tragedy. Name one work of drama that does not do the same? Though the level of believability and varies throughout the film, this reviewer did not see reason to question the film’s genuineness and integrity. However, among its weaknesses is the over-stretched screenplay that tends to be implausible in places.

Still, whether Extremely loud & Incredibly Close tugs at your heartstrings or not, it is a well-made film that is generally interesting and full of strong performances.