Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a movie about a nine-year-old New Yorker on the hunt for clues about a key that might help him make sense of why his dad died in 9/11.

I love Sandra Bullock in this movie because I didn't even know she was Sandra Bullock. And as the kid's mom, she was, at some point, painted as an auxiliary parent, next to Tom Hanks' character. Father of the year award goes to him.

Thomas Horn stars as Oskar Schell, the kid and the main protagonist. (He looks like Piolo Pascual sometimes.)

Oskar Schell can be very annoying. He's intelligent for his age, and if not, he pretends he is. He has many phobias, too. But he says that he was indefinitely diagnosed with Asperger's. That explains why his dad, Thomas Schell, sends him on these "expeditions" to talk to people.

I wonder, though, why there was a need for said expeditions when the kid is shown to have school friends.

Also, given all that, some of what Oskar does or says seems off for a nine-year-old like that. The title of the movie, for one, is what he ends up calling his scrapbook, short of yelling it out somewhere in the dialogue. It would have been more believable if he went for "Things That Used To Make Me Panicky," or "The Case of the Black Key."

Some aspects of Stephen Daldry's direction and Foer's storytelling seem laborious too. (Foer had a hand in the script.) The bit about his grandfather only raised more questions like "Why does his grandmother not want him to know about his grandfather?" "Why did his grandmother let her ex-husband in only after their son died?"

I asked why all those people in New York with the surname Black were so friendly with Oskar, but the answer to that is his mom.

The movie has its heartwarming and funny moments, and the story is sweet. There are shots and details that would make hipsters go "Oooh!" for sure. "Oooh, a Nokia 5110. Nostalgia." "Oooh! Children in New York remind me of Hey Arnold!" (I did, except for that last scene. That was just too predictable.)

I give this movie a 6.5/10. Watch it at home with your emo friends.

Oh look, I highlighted clues.



You might also want to read Sting Lacson's review.