Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

September 11, 2001 is a day that changed the world.  Thousands of lives ended, families were torn apart, and the course of nations changed.  Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is the fictional story of one family.  Oskar (Thomas Horn) is a 10 year old boy who probably has Asperger’s Syndrome.  His father, Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks), is a dedicated father, who uses puzzles, and a form of geo-questing to help his son overcome his fears.  When Thomas is killed on 9/11 Oskar’s disability only gets worse.  A year after his father died, Oskar finds a key among his father’s belongings.  Believing it was a quest his father had prepared for him, Oskar sets out to find the matching lock.

While aspects of the story are ludicrous, it is nonetheless a good story.  The real strength of the movie is in the performances by the cast.  Thomas Horn delivers a spectacularly emotional performance that is even more amazing when you consider his prior acting experience consisted of a grasshopper in a school play of James and the Giant Peach.  This kid has amazing talent and a lot of potential.  Max von Sydow manages to give a spectacular performance without ever speaking a word.  It takes a tremendous amount of talent as an actor to give that kind of performance with just body language and expressions.

This movie is a bit emotionally draining.  I would not recommend it for a date night, or for young kids.  It is however a great movie to watch purely for the enjoyment of film.  The PG-13 rating is quite appropriate.  I give it a 9 / 10.

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