Fresh Reviews: "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Rated PG-13 for some strong language and intensely disturbing scenes of 9/11.

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So, with only two of the nine Oscar-nominated "Best Picture"s remaining unseen by me, I decided last week to check out this instead of "War Horse" (not a bad decision, as it turns out: "War Horse" opens at the local SECOND RUN theatres this week!). The verdict? There were parts of this film that I found to be incredibly emotionally powerful, and I do agree that Max Von Sydow gives the best supporting actor performance in this movie. However, is it ultimately a great film? Does it deserve to be nominated as one of the best of the year? I'm afraid not.

It's the story of Oskar Shell (Thomas Horn), a young isolated boy (who may very well have Asperger's) who had a close, loving relationship with his father (played by Tom Hanks)... until his father is killed in the 9/11 attacks. A year later, Oskar finds a key placed by his dad in an old vase in the closet, with a mysterious label "Black" on it. Knowing how his dad loved to challenge him with puzzles and quests, Oskar believes this is one last quest, and if he solves it he'll get a last message from his father. So as much as he hates involving himself with other people, he ventures out in the world to solve the mystery...

The first half of this movie almost seems at times like a shameless attempt to exploit the 9/11 tragedy, even though the movie isn't ultimately mainly about that. But the insanely melodramatic music (so the audience will know enough to be emotionally affected by 9/11, since of course they might not be able to figure that out on their own) and a performance by Horn that is pure robot-like mechanics... the more "emotional" he's supposed to get, the faster he talks and the faster he talks the flatter his tone becomes... really makes you wonder why it had to be 9/11 and not just some auto accident or building fire or something like that. For anyone who came to the theatre to see Tom Hanks, they're going to be disappointed... Hanks barely makes his presence felt in a series of flashbacks, and even in them he's playing such a pure selfless saint that he doesn't quite register as a human being. (I genuinely like Hanks and think he's a more than capable actor, but this isn't his bright, shining moment.)

Once Oskar starts venturing out into the world we're supposed to see how he connects with each of the groups of people he encounters on his quest and how they help him forge his new identity and outlook on life. Problem is, the people he meets also have their own stories and have suffered just as much as if not more than Oskar, including equally tragic losses... but we never learn anything about them. They're not real people or characters, they're just plot devices to guide Oskar on his way. But then something very strange happens about halfway through the film. It actually begins to get real and authentically emotionally affecting.

When Max Von Sydow is introduced as "The Renter", a mysterious mute character renting a room from Oskar's grandmother, we suddenly get a master class in great acting. The man whose voice is one of the great treasures of modern cinemas performs a role totally without words and does so wonderfully... how is it even remotely possible for a performance to have so much power without uttering a sound? Then Horn actually seems to have some of Von Sydow's subtlety rub off on him and he begins to act naturally at last, showing he CAN give a performance that really works the old emotions as he forms a genuine bond with Von Sydow. And at last the 9/11 connection eases up a little bit and concentrates more on simply the story of a lonely boy trying to connect with his late father. There's even one genuinely powerful, truly painful moment that IS connected to 9/11, as we hear a series of phone calls (voice messages) left by Hanks on 9/11. In particular, the final call to Bullock just before the second tower collapses is possibly the single most real... almost TOO real... depiction of the devastation of that day I've ever seen on film. Why couldn't the rest of the 9//11 scenes have been more authentic like this instead of exploitative... if, that is, the subject was necessary for the film at all?

And just when you think the second half will be enough to redeem the first, a twist at the end gives us a pat, much-too-easy-and-unlikely conclusion that includes a drawing by Oskar of the 9/11 attacks that just made me shake my head and think "They have GOT to be kidding!" I suppose it would have been too good to be true. But, MAN, that section in the middle works SO incredibly well... it's everything that a film adaptation of Jonathan Saffron Foer's novel should have been and more. And the greatness of Von Sydow, and the other things... I really hate to urge anyone not to see this movie or they'd miss all that great stuff. Maybe this is another argument for DVD/Blu-Ray (although I personally never take that route)... fast forward to about a half hour in, watch for an hour and turn it off. Whatever it takes...