Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

In the opening shot of Stephen Daldry’s family drama we see what appears to be a human figure, falling gracefully in slow motion through a clear blue sky. It is an odd visual and a potentially mesmerising one… that is, until you realize a couple of scenes later this is actually a film about 9/11. Listen carefully and you can almost hear audiences around the world shift uncomfortably in their seats.

Now before carrying on further, there is an important issue that needs discussing: is it still too soon to be addressing so openly the subject of September 11^th in mainstream Hollywood cinema? Chances are that eleven years on most people would beg to differ, but it’s important to remember this is still a far more delicate issue for Manhattanites (who are likely to be offended by this review, in case they loved the film). So in answer to the previous question, films should not shy away from the subject at hand, as long as they do it with taste, respect and integrity. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is not one of those films.

Adapted from Jonathan Safran Foer’s book of the same name, Extremely Loud… focuses on eleven year-old Oskar Schell’s (Thomas Horn) difficult struggle to cope with the death of his father (Tom Hanks), whom he lost during the September 11^th attacks. A year later he accidentally stumbles upon a key among his father’s belongings. He has no idea to what it may open, the only clue being the word “Black” written on the back of the envelope in which he found it. Oskar then sets out on a personal odyssey around New York to find the person who knows what the key will unlock.

The material at Daldry’s disposal here is the stuff of great tragedy and to be fair, the British director does occasionally manage to recapture the anguish experienced by so many on that fateful day – the scene in which Oskar comes home to find his father’s final messages on the answer machine minutes before the World Trade Center collapses makes for unbearable viewing and is in itself a powerful moment from a cinematic point of view.

It’s when Oskar embarks on his quest to find the mythical keyhole that the film loses its dramatic punch and, bizarrely enough, starts playing out more like a modern day version of The Land Before Time. Like that milestone in prehistoric animation, the main protagonist is a naïve sprog who travels great distances to search for something that ultimately isn’t there, but ends up meeting an assortment of colourful characters along the way. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that by the time we reach the final scenes, Extremely Loud… feels like a load of predictable sentimental tosh.

But sentimentality doesn’t need to be a problem, when it can be warmly embraced if you believe and engage with a protagonist. Unfortunately Thomas Horn is a really bad actor. Yes, Oskar’s just a kid who may be affected by Aspergers, but he’s also an annoying kid you have to spend two hours and ten minutes with, which is no easy feat when Horn's acting consists of reciting his lines off by heart whilst staring blankly at his co-stars. Not since The Phantom Menace’s Jake Lloyd has a child actor been so extremely dull and incredibly frustrating.

2/5