The film begins with a very blurry close-up of what would appear to be a falling body. Going into the film, we already know the 9/11 backdrop for the story, so right off the bat we're treading into some dangerous waters that may make some uncomfortable. We get introduced to Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn, more on him later), son of Thomas and Linda Schell (Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock). Oskar is unhappy at a funeral because he objects to the burial of an empty coffin. Through various flashbacks, we see Thomas and Oskar bonding. Thomas enjoys opening up Oskar's creative mind with scavenger hunts and theories about a sixth NYC borough that may have existed in the past. We do learn that Oskar has some anxieties, however, such as a pertinent unwillingness to ride on a playground swing. He speaks of the risk involved and how one could get hurt. Thomas tries to help Oskar overcome that particular fear to no avail.
A subsequent flashback, but a bit further ahead now, brings us to what is obviously 9/11, or as Oskar frequently calls it, "The worst day." Oskar is let out of school early, not fully understanding why. He returns home to find his mother at work and messages on the answering machine. Oskar, through seeing TV reports and from what he hears (but we don't yet) on the answering machine, concludes that his father is in the World Trade Center, which he has just seen collapse on live television.
In the weeks that follow, Oskar's relationship with his mother becomes strained as neither of them can comprehend why his father is now dead. Oskar does become closer with his grandmother, who also lives in the building. He also learns of an older man now living in the building as well, known just as The Renter.
There are numerous other flashbacks throughout the film as well, and after awhile you do need to take a few seconds of a new scene to realize where you are. This is the biggest problem I have with the film, and this was also about the point where I figured out who likely wrote the screenplay (and I saw later that I was right) because this is how he ALWAYS writes his screenplays, and it drives me up a wall. We'll cover that later, however.
About a year has passed. Oskar goes into his dad's closet for the first time since "the worst day" and sees everything has been left as it was beforehand. There is a box on a top closet shelf that he and his dad used to go into, but in reaching for it he accidentally knocks over a blue vase, which breaks on the ground. His initial worry about the broken vase soon vanishes when he spots a small envelope now on the ground that was inside the vase. On the envelope is the word "Black", and inside the envelope is a key. Oskar feels that he's becoming less attached to his dad since 9/11 and concludes that he needs to find out where this key belongs, as it may bring his dad back fully into his (Oskar's) own being.
Oskar compiles a list from the phone book of all those who have the last name Black and winds up mapping out an itinerary where he will visit them all in an attempt to find out if that person is who the key is connected to, and how his dad fits into the equation as well. In time, he is joined by the Renter (Max Von Sydow) and they search together, despite the Renter's self-imposed refraining from speaking at all. Through a constant series of jumps from past to present, and quick cuts to cover a number of the people named Black that Oskar meets, we eventually get one layer at a time peeled away on a variety of subjects that ultimately lead to the answers that Oskar seeks. Oskar winds up discovering a lot more about his father, his mother, the Renter and himself than he ever could have imagined.
The film has an excellent cast from top to bottom, with Bullock reminding everyone of her severely-underappreciated ability for dramatic acting. Others pop up including Jeffrey Wright, John Goodman, Viola Davis and Zoe Caldwell. However, I have to give major credit to Horn, who was no older than the age of 4 when 9/11 actually happened, and gives a performance of extreme difficulty both in subject matter and in actual performance (there is some impressive dialogue-driven stuff that Horn presents in the film) that is far beyond his age and experience. What is his experience, you ask? This film. That's it. His only other public exposure prior to this was, of all things, winning a kids tournament on the game show "Jeopardy!" back in 2010. The producers of the film cast him based solely on how well he presented himself on that show. Quite a strange way to land a role, but Horn delivered here. In fact, Horn has won several accolades and awards thus far in this awards season, including the Best Young Actor/Actress prize at the Critics Choice Awards.
The character of Oskar Schell is a complex one, and one we never fully learn. Oskar's mannerisms and habits seen in the film show a child with obvious social disorders and anxieties (storytelling that turns into emotional screaming, fears of bridges and swings and being generally off of solid ground, carrying and shaking a tambourine to keep his nerves calm), yet at the same time it is obvious Oskar is a child of extreme intelligence and curiousity. Also, despite his social anxieties, Oskar has no qualms at all about traversing around New York City at all hours by himself to meet complete strangers. If I didn't know better, I would think the character could even be classified as having autistic tendencies. Unfortunately, this is pretty much not at all touched upon in the film. Perhaps it ultimately doesn't need to be, but this is a small maddening thing about the film that combines with other small maddening things.
My biggest issue with the film comes with a bit of a personal bias. The screenwriter, I deduced about 30-40 minutes into the film, had to be Eric Roth. When the closing credits rolled, I found that I was right. Eric Roth was the screenwriter for "Forrest Gump". He was also the screenwriter for "Munich". He was also the screenwriter for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button". All of those films, as well as this one, have so many parallels with how the story is presented. Constant (and I do mean CONSTANT) jumps in time from present to past and back again. Centering the story around a major historical/tragic event. Tugging at the emotional centers of the viewers. Eric Roth, to me, is the most overglorified screenwriter in Hollywood. I find him very limited in what he can actually give us. However, unlike the case with "...Button", at least this film is not an absolutely obvious carbon copy plotwise of one of his prior films, scene for scene and character for character.
Some of the criticism for the film is along the lines one would expect. 9/11 is still a somewhat-taboo subject for movies. Frankly, many people don't want or need to be reminded of it, much less watching simulations of people falling through the air right in the first twelve seconds of the film. I still will not watch the films "World Trade Center" or "United 93", ever. I have three videotapes from 9/11 of all the news outlets that I was videotaping that day, and they're in a box in the basement where they will likely stay until they either disintegrate or get stolen. I'm not emotionally scarred by 9/11, but I damn sure don't need reminders of it. In relation to this, getting back to the criticisms that are out there, a lot of critics and others are deriding this film for being blatantly obvious Oscar bait. The 9/11 subject matter. The 80-something legendary actor in a non-speaking role. The A-list casting. The limited release of the film just before the end of 2011, getting in just under the deadline to potentially earn Oscar nominations. Then the Academy (intentionally or not) further fuels that fire by having this film be the final "surprise" nominee announced for Best Picture as it was. (The film received a total of two Oscar nominations, the other being Max as Best Supporting Actor.)
In all fairness, I was not looking forward to seeing this film but I went in open-minded as I always do when a film has nothing to do with Rob Schneider and/or Adam Sandler. I enjoyed the film. It certainly did frustrate me at times, but I didn't walk out of the theater shaking my head. I don't necessarily feel it's a Best Picture type of movie, and while I appreciated Max's work (not to mention his amazing body of work overall), there was nothing there that screamed out "Oscar" to me. Still, I can't say I'm in agreement with most of the criticism that is out there. Despite its subject matter and heavy sentimentality, despite the frustrations I have with the screenplay, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" left me more satisfied than I ever expected. But I don't need to see it a second time.
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" is currently still in theaters nationwide.
Thomas Horn was the entire film and I think it is a SHAME he wasn't nominated for a Best Actor Oscar. He was fantastic!
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