Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)

Director: Stephen Daldry
Writer: Eric Roth
Genre: Drama/specifically designed to make you cry and win Oscars

1.5 Cookies

More like Extremely pretentious and Incredibly wanted to punch that kid in the face. The fact that this film is nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award is an absolute disgrace and in my mind basically nullifies any credibility the Oscars had left. This film, with a title almost as obnoxious as its two plus hours running time, goes wrong in so many ways it’s almost difficult to know where to start.

I think I’ll start with the atrocious acting of the film’s lead actor Thomas Horn. Horn plays Oskar Schell (the main character is named Oskar! And this movie is designed to do nothing but win Oscars! Coincidence?), a nine-year-old boy who’s father died on 9/11. When he discovers a key in his dad’s closet one year after his death, Oskar begins to search all over New York City to find what the key fits. For this film to work on any level, Horn’s acting needed to be masterful but instead the performance is a disaster. In a role that calls for serious emotional gravitas, Horn displays the acting range of a poorly designed CGI character. Everything about him is annoying. From his voice (way too much voiceover narration), his face, even the way he shakes a tambourine to relax himself.

My uncle asked me if I’d rather have lunch with Oskar Schell or Kevin, the deranged murderous psychopath from We Need to Talk about Kevin, and I went with Kevin – because being killed would be better than spending half an hour with such a pretentious, know it all snob, who is just as annoying before his dad dies as he is after. While it isn’t out rightly stated, Oskar more than likely has some form of autism, which contributes, to his social inadequacies, but director Stephen Daldry is so obviously using Oskar’s disorders to cloy audiences into feeling bad for him that it feels strained and manipulative.

Speaking of manipulative, this movie is specifically designed to use the tragedy of 9/11 to provoke a melancholy reaction from audiences that when you do cry – and you will – it’s not because of the movie’s strength, it’s just because of the movie’s topic. Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock do display some acting chops in their supporting roles, and along with Max Von Sydow who plays a not so mysterious stranger who doesn’t speak, manage to provoke some legitimate emotional reactions, but the strength of their performances is nullified by Horn’s performance and the story’s artificiality.

There is probably a good movie that could have been made here but the end result is certainly not it.