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Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Movie Blurb by Shale
January 20, 2012
This movie is set in NYC and integral to it is the event that happened in that city on September 11, 2001. But it is not a study of the tragedy, just its impact on one family and specifically on one very disturbed 9-year-old boy.
Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) is very close to his father Thomas (Tom Hanks). He is a kid with problems - extremely bright but quite neurotic, obsessive compulsive and maybe he has Asperger’s syndrome. His father gives him quests with clues that take him all over the city and are designed to make him confront his anxieties and interact with other people.
Dad and Oskar on a Quest
However, as with many New Yorkers, Oskar's life was crushed on 9-11-01 when his father was in the Twin Towers at 8:55 a.m. Oscar withdraws from his mother (Sandra Bullock) and obsesses over the loss of his father.
Mom & Oscar Having a Moment
A year later Oskar ventures into his dad's closet, which has remained untouched and accidentally discovers a key in a small envelope with 'black' written on it. He decides this was a final quest his father had devised for him and sets about looking for all the ppl named Black in New York to see if he can find what the key opens. With his sharp intellect he plots the course of seeking out all of them, even calculating that it would take three years.
Oskar Plotting his Quest
The movie then follows Oskar on his quest and his meeting the various people named Black, including one woman (Viola Davis) who is in the midst of her husband leaving her. (OK, you know this person has to have more than one visit with Oskar).
Oskar's grandmother, who brot the family to NY from Dresden after WWII, lives in an adjoining apartment building and has been helping his mother watch him. Oscar is a latchkey kid and his grandmother is available by a walkie-talkie that they share. Oskar's grandmother has rented a room to a mysterious old man (Max Von Sydow) who does not talk and whom Oskar eventually befriends.
Old Man & Oskar on Quest
They go off together on the search for the lock that the key will open and which Oskar believes will bring him closer to his dad. Don't want to tell you what they find, or how it connects to Oskar's dad or even who the old man is. You will figure it all out along the way or in the revealing final scenes of the movie.
There was some controversy from some critics that this movie panders to the tragedy of 9-11, while others feel it is cathartic. 50% of the aggregate critics didn't like this movie and 67% of audiences, like me did like it. There are moments when you may tear up, if you empathize with the great loss to this one family.
Altho we recognize the accomplished actors, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Max Von Sydow, who I think did an excellent job in their roles, the 14-year-old Thomas Horn who plays Oskar carried the movie. It concentrates on him. He is in every scene and does some heavy performance of a kid with emotional difficulties and great intellect trying to make sense out of the senseless. I am always amazed when seeing a kid this young pull off such a convincing act. And, this is his first major acting job.
I would recommend this movie. It brot some things to the surface for me, even from my long-ago childhood (I wasn't super intelligent - but did a lot of exploring, and struggled with the obvious inconsistencies around me, much like Oskar). This might explain why some critics hate the movie and others love it - depending on how it personally draws you in.
Movie Blurb by Shale
January 20, 2012
This movie is set in NYC and integral to it is the event that happened in that city on September 11, 2001. But it is not a study of the tragedy, just its impact on one family and specifically on one very disturbed 9-year-old boy.
Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) is very close to his father Thomas (Tom Hanks). He is a kid with problems - extremely bright but quite neurotic, obsessive compulsive and maybe he has Asperger’s syndrome. His father gives him quests with clues that take him all over the city and are designed to make him confront his anxieties and interact with other people.
Dad and Oskar on a Quest
However, as with many New Yorkers, Oskar's life was crushed on 9-11-01 when his father was in the Twin Towers at 8:55 a.m. Oscar withdraws from his mother (Sandra Bullock) and obsesses over the loss of his father.
Mom & Oscar Having a Moment
A year later Oskar ventures into his dad's closet, which has remained untouched and accidentally discovers a key in a small envelope with 'black' written on it. He decides this was a final quest his father had devised for him and sets about looking for all the ppl named Black in New York to see if he can find what the key opens. With his sharp intellect he plots the course of seeking out all of them, even calculating that it would take three years.
Oskar Plotting his Quest
The movie then follows Oskar on his quest and his meeting the various people named Black, including one woman (Viola Davis) who is in the midst of her husband leaving her. (OK, you know this person has to have more than one visit with Oskar).
Oskar's grandmother, who brot the family to NY from Dresden after WWII, lives in an adjoining apartment building and has been helping his mother watch him. Oscar is a latchkey kid and his grandmother is available by a walkie-talkie that they share. Oskar's grandmother has rented a room to a mysterious old man (Max Von Sydow) who does not talk and whom Oskar eventually befriends.
Old Man & Oskar on Quest
They go off together on the search for the lock that the key will open and which Oskar believes will bring him closer to his dad. Don't want to tell you what they find, or how it connects to Oskar's dad or even who the old man is. You will figure it all out along the way or in the revealing final scenes of the movie.
There was some controversy from some critics that this movie panders to the tragedy of 9-11, while others feel it is cathartic. 50% of the aggregate critics didn't like this movie and 67% of audiences, like me did like it. There are moments when you may tear up, if you empathize with the great loss to this one family.
Altho we recognize the accomplished actors, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Max Von Sydow, who I think did an excellent job in their roles, the 14-year-old Thomas Horn who plays Oskar carried the movie. It concentrates on him. He is in every scene and does some heavy performance of a kid with emotional difficulties and great intellect trying to make sense out of the senseless. I am always amazed when seeing a kid this young pull off such a convincing act. And, this is his first major acting job.
I would recommend this movie. It brot some things to the surface for me, even from my long-ago childhood (I wasn't super intelligent - but did a lot of exploring, and struggled with the obvious inconsistencies around me, much like Oskar). This might explain why some critics hate the movie and others love it - depending on how it personally draws you in.
Last edited by Shale on Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:02 pm; edited 1 time in total (Reason for editing : Fix Pix Linx)
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