Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011) Review

Not Very “Close” 

Making a film involving September 11^th is not an impossible task, but a difficult one. It has to be handled with care and subtlety, honoring that day while still examining the meaning of it. In “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” however, I felt this handling was too often heavy-handed and clumsy, and that would ultimately be the film’s downfall.

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” tells the story of a young boy named Oskar (Thomas Horn) who is trying to cope with the death of his father (Tom Hanks), who died during September 11th. The film begins with the burial of Oskar’s father and then cuts back and forth between the present and the events of September 11^th. The main action of the film takes place after Oskar discovers a key in his dad’s closet. The key is an envelope marked “Black,” and Oskar quickly sets out to find what lock it fits, hoping it will unlock some secret about his father.

I don’t believe merely including September 11^th lessens the film, in fact there have been several films dealing with 9/11 that have been very effective. “United 93” was an incredible film describing the events on flight 93, where the passengers onboard overthrew the high-jackers, crashing the plane before it reached its intended target. “United 93” was a document of how that day affected everyone and displayed how even in the wake of terrible tragedy, the beauty of humanity still exists.

Bullock and Hanks in "Extremely Loud..."

This was something missing from “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” we end the movie with Oskar having met all of these people and seen their unique qualities, but what does he learn? It appears the message is supposed to be that the lives of all of these people goes on despite the tragedy of 9/11, but the problem is nobody’s life—outside of Oskar and his mother—is affected by 9/11.

I think this where the biggest problem of the film is realized: if you remove September 11^th from the story nothing changes. Instead of “a boy moves on from the death of his father during September 11^th,” we have “a boy moves on from his father’s death.” This may seem crass, but there are no other connections in the film’s plot to September 11^th, just the fact Oskar’s father died when one of the towers collapsed.

It is the unfortunate nature of having an event as important as September 11^th in your film that you have to make some sort deep connection with that event. The scars of that day run too deep and the event is too big to be relegated as a backdrop to a story of a child trying to overcome his father’s death.

Thomas Horn searching in "Extremely Loud..."

It is no small irony that over half of my review so far has been dedicated to merely analyzing the use of 9/11 in “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” there were, however, several more issues contributing to the overall poor quality of this film. The pacing and overall tone of the film, for example, were all over the place, often as a direct correlation to each other.

While I was sitting in the theater my fellow audience members often seemed confused about whether they should laughing or crying. The tone feels so completely uneven throughout the film that it is easy to understand their confusion. I believe this is a direct result of the poor pacing and editing of the film. Too often we are given a lighthearted scene with Oskar and his dad immediately followed by a scene of Oskar fighting with his mom (Sandra Bullock). This juxtaposition can be used to effect sometimes, but when every scene involves us jumping between two completely opposite emotions, the audience becomes confused and exhausted trying to keep up.

There are some elements of this film I enjoyed. Max Van Sydow was very good, though I do think (spoilers) the lack of any change in his character by the end of the film is a giant flaw. His character has taken a vow of silence after watching his parents die, and like Max has spent a long time searching for meaning. However, by the end of the film he has still not spoken, leaving us to wonder what the message in that is supposed to be?

Max Van Sydow silent in "Extremely Loud..."

I also thought a montage where Oskar reviews all of the things that terrify him was a very strong sequence. This was the one moment where I thought the film pushed on effects of 9/11 in an authentic way, highlighting our anxieties and fears stemming from that one day. If the film had leaned on more moments such as this, I think it would have been much more affecting.

Unfortunately Van Sidow’s character ultimately became a metaphor for my feelings towards the film. Just as he remains stoic and unmoved at the end of the story, I sat in the theater, unaffected and dissuaded by a film that should have instead moved and inspired.

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” Receives a 3/10