Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-720P

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Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-480P

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-720P

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-360P

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close-480P

'Out of the blue' is one way of describing Stephen Daldry's tale of a grieving boy struggling to come to terms with the death of his father during the September 11th terrorist attacks. Perhaps the most interesting notion is how suddenly it came to prominence with not one, but two, Oscar nominations (Best Picture and Supporting Actor). Adapted from a novel; Eric Roth (Forrest Gump) pens a screenplay that solely aims to evoke emotional tension using 9/11 as the story's premise. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close focuses on Oskar (Thomas Horn); an irritatingly prim boy with suggested Asperger's syndrome, which proves a defining element in both character and plot, as the youngster struggles to accept the death of his father played by Tom Hanks. Discovering a key and a cryptic clue in his dad's closet, Oskar embarks on a mission to uncover the location of the lock, in the hope of seeking closure to his painful suffering. The biggest problem here is a combination of two things: firstly using 9/11 as a basis for a film is not unusual (see World Trade Centre et al), but rather than as a mere backdrop, it explicitly tries to evoke horrendous memories relating to that day, rather than create an independent story. Through conversation or flashback we are constantly reminded of September 11th and how relentless it was - as if we didn't know. The second flaw is the way Oskar is portrayed. An effort to create a naive, fragile soul that has mental health issues as well as trauma complexities is a difficult task, and fails to work on the basis that we are encouraged to sympathise: one moment, a poignantly articulate narrator gradually begins to generate some audience engagement, but is instantly banished when the obnoxiousness of a foul-mouthed brat rears his head. Little annoyances build up; for example, when he embarks on a 25th Hour style monologue that feels like it goes on for all eternity, and then some. The extreme sentimentality of the piece is unlikely to faze the sceptics amongst us, but on a basic level the moments of embrace, tenderness and loss will indeed strike a chord with some viewers. However, for the most part it is a shameless plug for a stateside patriotism that in fact generates a lot of prejudice, hatred and anger in relation to the forceful reminder of 9/11. Using terrorism as the basis for Oskar's heartache is unnecessary. His father could have died in a hundred other ways on a thousand different days if the filmmakers so wished, but instead decide to target the single most devastating moment of the past twenty years in an obvious attempt to engage its audience. Were the narrative to be about a man who dies in a car crash, void of Hollywood heavyweights Bullock and Hanks, would anyone batter an eyelid, let alone gift Oscar nominations? This leads us to another factor: the supporting role of Max von Sydow. A talented actor, having been in some excellent movies over the decades; his inclusion as an ageing German mute doesn't lift the film to a newer or more respectable height, as his character proves terribly gimmicky and ultimately irrelevant in the scheme of the plot, too. VERDICT: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is awfully crass at times as it goes straight for the jugular at every opportune moment. Hanks and Bullock have small roles, allowing von Sydow to step in and offer an interesting, yet contrived contribution. Its inclusion as a Best Picture contender is baffling, and can only be credited with such due to reasons of a political nature, because there's nothing here that justifies association with any awards.

source: Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

A simple story and a long journey characterize "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", but if you are expecting masterful storytelling and a well-organized plot with a natural flow, this may not be your cup of tea. This is a movie that prevails on emotions, on its inspirational and sentimental messages that connect with the audience, especially the ones who have lost something in the 911. It's easily the most touching movie of the year for people who love it. If you don't like it, well, the score explains it. Nevertheless, Thomas Horn (Oskar) becomes the star of the movie the moment the film begins, and he learns and reflects through his adventure, till the very end of the movie when he realizes the truth and the message from his father. The performance is a completely Oscar-worthy one, and from what I'm seeing here I can easily put it on the level of George Clooney in "The Descendants", or even above. "Extremely Loud" is presented in fragments, and some may find it confusing and somewhat pretentious. I see it as a way to display the emotions and the development of Oskar better. So it seems the critics are wrong this time, and I'm glad the Academy has corrected such a mistake by nominating this as Best Picture. Though it won't win, it certainly has received the recognition it deserved. Like "The Help", this is one the most moving movies of the year, but "The Help" seems to appeal to the audience more with its more conventional and linear storytelling technique. But for me, they are equally touching and are movies that can easily make people cry. I would even say the message in this is much stronger and enforced than the one in "The Help", which makes use of an issue that has been done over and over again.

Where do I even begin? Here, we have a movie based around a boy who's father died on 9/11. His story seemed compelling enough when viewing the trailer for the movie - a boy on a quest to find something his dead father left for him to find in the city. However, this trailer was entirely misleading, as that is not what happens. Instead, what we (as an audience) experience is quite possibly the most revolting, hypocritical, arrogant, egotistical, insulting, annoying excuse of a child I have ever laid my eyes on. From telling his mother she should have died in the attacks, to slapping her awake at night on the face, to swearing insults at random people, to talking to himself, to badgering, to referring to 9/11 as the "Worst Day", we simply have an entire recipe of what we were brought up not to be like from our own parents. Quit possibly the worst arch in the dull, plot-less, and entirely expected storyline (you can tell where the storyline is going minutes ahead of time) is the boys cruel and decisive way of holding back 6 integral phone messages from his father, to his mother, and telling her no one called, and keeping them to himself. The messages, taken within the Trade Center by his father during the attacks were clearly of incredible significance both in the film, and to the emotional backdrop of the story. Instead, they're used to hurt, and to show the boys complete selfishness and arrogance, as well as ignorance, towards others. Words cannot express how much I wanted to get up and leave the theater as I watched this with my girlfriend, who somehow, got the movie, and cried her way through it. Looking at the movie through NON-mystified eyes, the movie has absolutely no closing value, and no joie de vivre. It's story arch is bland, and quite frankly, infuriating. In the end, you are disappointed yet again when the boy finds out nothing from his father was left for him in his hunt to find something.... anything. And instead of discovering what the key was for (his main clue as to his father leaving something for him) you find out it belonged to another man, and you don't even find out it's use or value. You then find out that his grandfather never talks, and never truly admits to being his grandfather. You find out that the boy needs a damn tambourine in order to go anywhere without being nervous, and that when he is nervous, he screams and belittles all around him. I could go on and on and on and on about how absolutely terrible this movie is in the eyes of someone who watches a movie for a deeper storyline, but instead, all I can tell you is that for someone without the ability to dive functionally into a backstory of a movie within their mind, this movie is great. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, it's a horrible and sickening tale of complete scuzz.