9/11 aftermath drama 'Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close' tugs at heartstrings
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Thomas Horn and Tom Hanks portray son and father in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."
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Unless you are impervious to emotion, you may want to bring a tissue, handkerchief or some napkins from the concession stand to "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."
That way, when the father (Tom Hanks) calls his family's New York apartment at 8:56 a.m. on Sept. 11, 2001, and asks, "Are you there?" you will have something to catch the tears that inevitably will fall. "Listen, something happened. ... I'm sure it's fine," he reassures them.
We know it's not, and he suspects as much with each subsequent call, recorded on the answering machine and discovered by his 11-year-old son, Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn).
- Starring: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max von Sydow.
- Rating: PG-13 for emotional thematic material, some disturbing images and language.
Both parents love Oskar, but his father especially doted on him, cooked up reconnaissance expeditions and challenges, laughed at how clever and precocious the boy could be, and tried to get him to shake off his anxieties and spread his wings. And because he is the one who is gone and the story is told from Oskar's point of view, the dad's memory looms large.
An unmarked key Oskar accidentally discovers in his father's belongings a year after 9/11 inspires the most ambitious mission of all. He decides to try to find the lock it will open.
"I made up my mind, nothing was going to stop me. Even me," Oskar says in the narration.
He opts not to tell his widowed mother (Sandra Bullock) as he embarks on an expedition that will force him to confront his fears and allow him to use his intelligence, organizational skills, obsessive nature and persistence bordering on rudeness to find answers to questions he didn't know existed.
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," based on Jonathan Safran Foer's 2005 novel, can be a bit precious at times -- Oskar uses a tambourine to calm himself, a mysterious renter played by Max von Sydow communicates only by scribbling on a note pad -- but it seems impossible not to be moved by the story.
It taps into our memories of watching smoke blacken the blue sky outside the World Trade Center (and all that followed) and shows us the shock, disorientation, unrelenting sadness, loneliness and silence that replaces the sound of a family noisily, happily, blithely living their lives.
The drama, however, also allows us to rejoice as change steals over Oskar and opens up some of his own locks.
What is most remarkable is that director Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliot," "The Reader," "The Hours") was willing to take a chance on a first-time actor as Oskar. Now a high school freshman, Thomas' acting experience was limited to playing the old grasshopper in a school production of "James and the Giant Peach."
The elder son of physicians, he was spotted on "Jeopardy! Kids Week!" and is fluent in Croatian and has studied Spanish and Mandarin. Blessed with expressive blue eyes, he is obviously gifted, and he allows that intelligence to shine through.
Oskar, after all, is bright, may have Asperger's syndrome (tests were not definitive) and he lets his emotions -- good, bad, ugly, juvenile or rashly impulsive -- seep or rocket to the surface.
It's easy, however, to understand how a panicky Oskar refuses to take the subway. "It's not safe. You can get blown to pieces by people who don't know you."
Mr. Daldry directs "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" as though it were a mix of detective story, coming-of-age tale and emotional catharsis. What Ms. Bullock's character tells Oskar about his father could apply to many people: "He's gone and he's not coming back. ... It's never going to make sense because it doesn't make sense."
The sterling cast also includes Mr. von Sydow as Oskar's sometime partner on his journey, a man who chooses not to speak but to scribble notes on a pad that is his constant companion. The onetime collaborator of the late Ingmar Bergman reminds us of the power of performance without spoken words, just as "The Artist" did.
Zoe Caldwell plays Oskar's grandmother, Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright are a couple he visits early in his search, and John Goodman turns up as a doorman.
Like the best movies, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" will leave you exhausted. But exhilarated and emotionally gratified by the experience.
First Published January 20, 2012 12:00 am
