Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (2011)

Tom Hanks and Thomas Horn

Two months in a row with at least one post is no great achievement, but it's better than nothing! Here we present our review of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. It is rated PG-13 for some foul language (including a few fairly creative replacement curse words) and for emotional thematic material (specifically death and 9/11).

Dan - I have kind of a weird goal each year to watch all of the Academy Award nominees for Best Picture before the awards are handed out if possible. And while I have only accomplished it one time (in 2010), I still make an effort to watch all of the nominees at some point. This was the final movie of 2011's nominees that I had not seen. My expectations were not very high as everything I had read suggested it was a mediocre movie at best. To my surprise it was much better than mediocre.

This is the story of a boy whose father (played by Tom Hanks) died in the events of 9/11. The boy, Oskar, is fairly eccentric and has some OCD tendencies to say the least. Oskar finds a key in his father’s belongings and takes it upon himself to find the lock that to which it belongs. With only the word Black written on the envelope to go on, Oskar decides it must be a person’s name and sets out to visit all of the people with the name of Black listed in the NYC phone book.

This movie deals with a lot of emotions that occur in a mind too young and undeveloped to truly understand them, indeed many adults may struggle with also (I know I do). Oskar deals mostly with fear, loss, anger, and love. About halfway through the movie after a particularly angry argument that Oskar has with his mother, they both begin to process some of the feelings they have about losing their husband/father. Linda tells Oskar that why and how his father died "doesn’t make sense" so there is no point in trying to understand in the first place. She doesn’t know why it all happened nor does she have the answers to his questions, but nevertheless tries to help him understand that he may not ever find them.

My own mother passed away when I was barely a teenager from cancer and I still don’t know the "why" of a lot of things. I remember asking my dad why this was happening to our family and he didn’t know the answer for himself let alone for me. So I feel like I can relate to Oskar in some small way. Not completely of course, since it was my mother and not my father who died and I had several months to prepare for the inevitable while Oskar’s loss was sudden, unexpected, and the direct result of someone else’s actions. But the underlying emotions are still the same: fear, loss, anger, and love. I was just a kid trying to make sense out of something that does not.

There is a powerful scene where Oskar is watching TV at the moment when the first tower collapses, and just as it begins the camera cuts to Oskar collapsing to his knees in a similar way as he puts it together that his father didn’t make it out of the World Trade Center. The images of the towers collapsing are forever in my mind (as with most people), but that shot alone helped the movie resonate that much more and seemed to tie the tragedies of the story more tightly together.

I liked this movie. I liked the characters. They felt real to me. Newcomer Thomas Horn was quite impressive taking on a character like Oskar and pulled it off handsomely. Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock as parents bring home the reality that being a parent is not easy and they aren’t invincible to either emotional insults or even life itself. Even Max von Sydow (in an Oscar nominated role) who never speaks a word was a great character. He conveys so much with only his facial expressions that he seemed to feel the words he wasn’t speaking.

I give this movie 4 out of 5 stars. The emotions reflected in the characters and how they deal with loss is what resonated most with me. I am still amazed at how seeing videos and images of 9/11 still gives me chills, not to mention stories that are interwoven into those events (even if they are fictional).

Nerd Note: Director Stephen Daldry only has done four feature films in his career. All four of his movies have been nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars (even though none have ever won) - Billy Elliot, The Hours, The Reader, and now Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.


Mark -

This movie is one of the most difficult for me to rate, and it all has to do with the main character of the film.  The main character of this film is portrayed by a new child actor appearing in his first film, Thomas Horn.  Horn plays the character of Oskar Schell, a nine year old boy who is extremely independent by nature but dealing with the loss of his one true friend, his father.  His father Thomas, played by Tom Hanks, loved to create elaborate puzzles for Oskar, testing his already high knowledge for his age, while encouraging Oskar to have to search deeply and abstractly at times for the simplest of solutions.  When Thomas is suddenly killed in the World Trade Center catastrophe, Oskar is left without the solution to the final puzzle that Thomas created.  A year after Thomas’s death, Oskar finds a mysterious key amongst Thomas’s belongings, and thus starts Oskar’s newest hunt for his answer.  The key is found inside of an envelope with the name Black written on it.  Oskar sets out to contact everyone in New York City with the last name Black, hoping to find the owner of the key, and in return answers from his Thomas.  

For me Oskar is one of, if not the most difficult character to try to relate to in all of the films I have seen.  By nature you want to root for him to find the answers he is looking for, but his awkwardness and often spiteful nature push you away from giving your full support to him.  I haven’t read the book, which I am assuming would give a more detailed description as to why he acts the way he does, but due to the lack of description in the adaptation, the audience is left with the little knowledge that Oskar was once “tested” for Aspergers, but the results were “inconclusive.”  I’m not trying to be insensitive in any way, but in order to try and give Oskar the benefit of the doubt in a lot of situations, I was left almost hoping that he had some type of mental or behavioral disorder so that there is an explanation and reason for his actions.  I wish that there was more explanation in the film about what if anything he is dealing with, because otherwise he just comes off as an extremely selfish, bratty kid with absolutely no filter on what he says or does.

In contrast to Oskar, the film’s supporting actors and actresses are amazing!  Max von Sydow plays a character known as The Renter, and it is one of my favorite characters of all time.  Von Sydow plays a character that is mute by choice, and that we later find out happens to be Thomas’s father, who abandoned Thomas and his mother at a young age.  Von Sydow was well deserved of his Oscar nomination for best supporting actor, and if not for being in the most competitive category the past few years, likely would have won.  Along with Von Sydow I thought the performances of Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, and Sandra Bullock were very good.

For a variety of reasons this movie isn’t going to be for everyone, but there are definitely some strong reasons to watch it.  While the tragedy of 9/11 plays a role in the story of this film, it is by no means the only, or the main, focus of the film.  3 ½ *’s out of 5

MY RANDOM THOUGHT FOR EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE:
Going off of my earlier comment about the nominated performances of actors in a supporting role, I would strongly recommend seeing all of the films from last years category.  Nick Nolte in Warrior, Jonah Hill in Moneyball, Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn, Christopher Plummer in Beginners, and of course Max Von Sydow in this film all gave amazing performances.

The Boys Are Back (2009)

Nicholas McAnulty and Clive Owen

To prove that we are a couple of sensitive guys in touch with our feelings, we watched The Boys Are Back starring Clive Owen. It is rated PG-13 for some dirty/foul language "thematic elements", which is loosely interpreted as emotions created and aimed toward grown-ups instead of children.

Mark -
This is a difficult review for me to write simply because the best way that I can describe my feelings for the movie would be indifferent. I can’t think of any other movie I’ve seen where I simply felt that the movie was neither good or bad, but that it simply just is.

The film tells the story of successful sports writer who suddenly finds himself looking for answers after the loss of his second wife to cancer. The main character Joe (Clive Owen) decides the best approach to his own life and the role of raising his six year old son, Artie, is simply to answer yes. Joe’s life becomes even more complicated as it shows his relationship with his older son, Harry, from his first marriage. The film goes on to portray the difficulties of a father and his sons in dealing with different types of losses, and learning to move forward with each others help.

For me the most compelling character of this film was Harry. Although he has the smallest role of "the boys", his character is the one that adds some depth and perception into the struggles that exists between all of their lives. It is very clear that Joe cares about his sons, but he is so lost inside of himself that it feels as if he isn’t genuinely interacting with the other characters at times. Artie is six, and thus a six year old does what a six year old does.

For those who enjoy happy ending, you will enjoy this movie. I didn’t have any real expectations for this film, but if you are going to have any, they shouldn’t be more than to simply expect a feel good film. 2 ½ out of 5 *’s.

My Random Thought For The Boys Are Back: The more I think about it, I’m convinced that Artie must have been a hellion even when his mother was alive, and that his behavior was not limited to Joe’s parenting alone.

Dan -
Here is another movie that you probably missed, let alone may not have even heard of, until now. I was optimistic going into this because I enjoy a good drama that tugs at the old heartstrings from time to time. This movie made me think about getting choked up at least twice. I don't think I actually cried, but maybe one of my eyes welled up. But don't tell Mark. I was discreet and any possibility of a tear was shed out of the corner of my eye farthest from my co-critic. After all, I do have some credibility to uphold around him (however little it may be).

I knew what this movie was about going into it (widower tries to raise children on his own), and wasn't sure how much I would like it. A little background on myself seems appropriate here. My own mother passed away from cancer when I was a young teenager, so I know what it's like to lose a parent and how confusing and frustrating it is trying to deal with and understand the emotions that go with that. I am also now the father of two boys, so seeing this solidified even further that I never want to be in a situation even remotely like that. So please, dear wife of mine, don't ever die on me! I count on you too much to fill in the (large) gaps I leave in our lives. Anyway, this movie seemed to hit a little closer to home now than when I first heard about it almost 2 years ago.

This becomes difficult to write because I kind of agree with Mark. This movie just is. There was no real plot to it. It is one of those "slice of life" movies where it shows people living their lives. Unfortunately these people are not very interesting. Sure, there are a couple of interesting events to try and mix things up, but overall nothing happens. The most compelling element of the movie was Clive Owen's relationship with his older son. His uneasiness of trying to make sense of a new situation brought back memories of my own childhood. Don't worry, I'm not getting all mushy and personal again. I only want to say that I felt like I could identify with him and some of the emotions he experienced.

The more I think about this movie, the more I don't like it as much as I did right after watching it. This was another of those movies where I may have liked it more had I watched it in one sitting. Taking breaks really tore me away from any emotion that was slowly building as the movie went on. I had to get back in the mindset each time I sat down to watch it (this one took 3 lunch breaks).

To its credit, and probably my favorite thing about this movie, were the conversations Joe has with his late wife. He imagines seeing her from time to time and talks with her. I likened it to seeing something that reminds me of a loved one that is lost. And then perhaps talking briefly with that person about what is going through my head. Just small moments that make sure you never truly forget that person.

I give this movie 3 out of 5 stars. It probably would have received a higher rating had I watched it in one sitting, but then it wouldn't have appeared on this blog as a lunch movie.