#jonathansafranfoer

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When reviewing Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close I find myself torn. Because of the movie and also from the reaction people had towards it. This movie wants to win all the awards so bad and this can make it manipulative. I recognize what it's doing... and yet still enjoyed it.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn, excellent in the role) is on a mission. Oskar has difficulty socializing and in order to overcome this, his father gives him missions and riddles. These push him to go outside of his comfort zone. It's been a year since Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks) was killed in the 9/11 terrorist attack. To regain the relationship he had with his dad, Oskar embarks on a final mission to find the lock that matches a key found in his father’s bedroom.

Let's just get it all out of the way. 9/11? Tom Hanks? A child with Autism dealing with grief? Sandra Bullock? This movie wants to be the best of the year. Can you get past that? If you do, you'll see a story of true love. Oskar could have been born to anyone but he was born in the family; the only one that could have been this right for him. He isn’t always easy to deal with. He’s prone to saying or doing things that hurt the people around him. He frequently tests his parents' patience but through the hardships, you see that they still love him unconditionally. Thomas's actions may be bordering on the saintly but it's inspirational nonetheless and I was moved.

Then, there's this mystery to be solved. Where does this enigmatic key belong? Seems like an impossible answer to find. Maybe that’s the point. Oskar doesn’t want to let go of his father. What better way is there to stay close to him than to keep searching forever? As the boy steps outside of his comfort zone and searches, he continues to prepare himself for the future. It's overly sweet. It would never happen anywhere in the world, much less New York but this is somewhat addressed when Oskar meets his grandmother’s neighbor.

Even when it is self-aware, this is still a fairy tale and in a few scenes, Oskar is overly precocious. It wraps itself up a bit too nicely, and on a different day I might have dismissed this as treacly or pretentious… but not today. It got me and the way tragedy is handled I thought was elegant. I won't be the only person who feels this way.

I can understand someone calling Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close "too much". You might see it as Forest Gump on overdrive, but I didn’t. The mystery gets you wondering, the performances were very good and the film has a certain emotional objective that it achieves. It's flawed, sometimes heavily, but I'll call it good. (On DVD, August 23, 2015)