I do not usually see movies based on books I have not read, but when my friend suggested "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", based on a novel of the same name by Jonathan Safran Foer, for our annual Christmas movie date, I reluctantly agreed. I am glad that I did.
Synopsis
The movie is about Oskar Schell, a nine-year-old boy in search of the missing lock to a key that he believes will bring him closer to his father, who perished in the 9/11 attacks. He is helped by a mysterious elder man, "the renter", who moved in to his grandmother's apartment shortly after September eleventh. Oskar meets many different people along his journey, yet as he encounters new people in the quest to grow closer to his father, he finds himself growing more and more estranged from his mother. This estrangement results in a rapprochement, courtesy of a huge surprise that I will not reveal, just in case you have neither read the book nor seen the movie.
Review
This movie is not a cinematic masterpiece: It does not have moments of breathtaking visual beauty or a soundtrack that you will rush out and buy. It does however, have a moving plot, and an intelligently written screenplay, with dialogue that feels very real. The movie does a good job not only of portraying events, but also of portraying different characters' emotions. The acting is phenomenal.
The movie is about 9/11 but it is also about much more: love, loss, growing up, and the meaning of family. In a sense, it is an ode to New York, as Oskar traverses the different neighborhoods of the city and encounters a variety of individuals from extremely diverse backgrounds, each with their own story. All of this is pretty heavy material, but luckily, the heaviness is punctuated by moments of humor throughout the movie.
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is definitely worth seeing, but make sure to bring a pack of tissues - by the end, there was hardly a dry eye in the theater. When the movie was over, it got a standing ovation from a room full of jaded New Yorkers, which is quite an accomplishment, and says more about this 9/11 movie than my words ever could.
Cast and Credits
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" is currently playing in select theaters, and will be playing in theaters everywhere starting on January 20, 2012. For more information about times and tickets, please go to www.fandango.com or www.moviefone.com
The movie is a Scott Rudin production from Warner Brothers Pictures. It is directed by Stephen Daldry, with a screenplay by Eric Roth. It stars Thomas Horn as Oskar Schell, with Tom Hanks as his father, Thomas Schell, and Sandra Bullock as his mother, Linda Schell. Max von Sydow plays the role of the renter, and Zoe Caldwell plays the role of Oskar's grandmother. The movie is based on the novel of the same title by Jonathan Safran Foer. For full credits, please go to: http://extremelyloudandincrediblyclose.warnerbros.com/index.html
Shayna Abramson - Shayna Abramson is an alumnus of Johns Hopkins University, where she was an active member of the Johns Hopkins Interfaith Center. She ...
