Ryan McNeil
Most of us aren’t extraordinary people. We don’t live interesting lives, or think profound thoughts. We won’t inspire whole movements, or leave behind a legacy that will be studied through the ages. Knowing all of that, one might think “Why am I here?”. Perhaps to understand the answer, we need to look a little closer to home. Perhaps, for the vast multitude, we won’t spark the imagination of many – but become a guiding compass for one or two. Or perhaps, we won’t rise to heights that inspire the many, instead we’ll open up ourselves for a select few, and unknowingly become indelible. It’s not a matter of rising to the occasion, it’s just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Perhaps then, we’ll be able to guide the way…reassure…or provide an answer.
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE is the story of Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn). Oskar is very bright and quite inquisitive, however is also socially awkward. For Oskar, the sun rises and sets on his father Thomas (Tom Hanks). As much as Oskar loves his mother Linda (Sandra Bullock), it’s his father that has a way of relating to him that both comforts him and pushes him. He encourages Oskar’s eccentricities, and yet challenges him to be brave and seek answers for bigger questions. Sadly, Thomas is killed in The World Trade Center attack, leaving both Oskar and Linda adrift.
A year later, as Oskar is sifting through some of his father’s things, he comes upon a curious key. Without much indication what the key is for, Oskar sees it as one last challenge from his father. If he can find what this key opens, perhaps he’ll be able to understand something more about the world, and perhaps he’ll have learned one last lesson from his father. As he inspects the envelope the key is contained in, he notices the name “Black” written on it. He realizes that someone named “Black” must have once owned the key – and possibly met his father. Thus he sets out to track down everyone in the New York City phone book named Black…all 472 of them.
Front and centre in this film is a theme that many can relate to: A search for meaning. Not knowing or understanding can sometimes be a worse feeling than sadness, anger or loss. Those negative emotions are focused – sharply pointed at something that has happened and is finite. What’s worse than those feelings is what comes next – the aftermath where we find ourselves wanting details – keys, if you’ll permit the allegory – to unlock answers we believe will help us move forward. Watching Oskar trying to find the lock, to get an answer for this one final inadvertent question his father left him, is a beautiful encapsulation of so many lives. We believe that if we ultimately find what we are looking for, that we will rest a little easier. Perhaps some even believe that with an answer they will recapture something thought to be lost. But the truth, to paraphrase one of the film’s characters, is that finding some answers takes a miracle…and for so many that miracle will never come. That’s what makes Oskar’s quest so beautiful and heartbreaking: Not only is success so unlikely, but one has to wonder if it will bring him any peace.
Curiously, Oskar’s odyssey gets tangled in its own feet. The great tragedy of his life is how and when his father died, this much is obvious. The interesting thing, is that such details are quite important for what Oskar is trying to do as it forces strangers to become receptive to him where they normally might not be. It’s a detail that isn’t a gimmick so much as it is the unintended lynchpin to his entire plan. Where the story gets tripped up is in the way it feels the need to come back to how and when his father died. There isn’t a soul old enough to want to watch this film that won’t remember what happened that day, and the raw emotion that came after. Illustrating it continually is not manipulation, so much as it is unnecessary. The first in-depth mention of it is an evocative punch to the chest. The second mention feels like redundancy. By the third mention, the effect feels muted. We aren’t affected by the sorrow anymore, in fact we’re making up excuses to leave the room. This is not to suggest that these moments within the film needed to be dropped, just to suggest that they would have benefitted from a subtler touch.
But even with those moments of miscalculation, there is much to take away from this movie. What it is more than anything else, is the tale of a young man who has trouble fitting in to the world around him. He has one person in his life who understands him and is able to help him take baby steps towards getting a grip on things, and that person gets taken away from him. Under any circumstance, that is a sad story, and one worth listening to. In that way, we all become a mister or missus Black and give some of our time and attention over to Oskar. For all of us, there is that one person who makes the world just that much easier to understand – a person who embodies home and safety. In both his spastic moments and his introspective moments, Oskar becomes our champion. He refuses to let that beacon in his life go out, and instead does what more of us should do: Try to see that same spirit in the people who remain.
EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE is a painterly mess. It embodies innocence, elegance, and earnestness, but then cancels that out with heavy-handedness, muddiness, melodrama. Like Oskar’s many keepsake, there is so much of this film that I want to take with me – several looks and many lines. It likewise leaves me with the hope that if need be, I could be like certain characters in this film, and become the rock that someone needs me to be – even if I’m ill-equipped for the job. The trick will be seizing the opportunity, as it often only presents itself fleetingly. What I believe we should carry away from this film, is that to close the book on stories like this, is to close the door on people like Oskar. Moments like these aren’t looking to change our lives, they only want a minute of our time. Turning our back because we think we’ve already been there might just be an opportunity missed.
I read the novel a year ago and it touched me deeply on many levels. Above all it was very well written, one of the great reads of last year to me. I have yet to hear a fully enthusiastic review of the movie, which makes me somewhat reluctant to watch it. I don’t want to mess with my great memory of the book.
My hang-ups with the film were the same as my hang-ups with the book, so if anything you might want to chase it down harder given that what worked for you in the book might well work for you in the film.
Many of Oskar’s encounters with The Blacks are quite lovely in fact!
“EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE is a painterly mess. It embodies innocence, elegance, and earnestness, but then cancels that out with heavy-handedness, muddiness, melodrama”
This is perfectly right. The great emotional attachment that you get from wanting to applaud this challenged child for reaching out to find the answer to this almost unsolvable mystery is great, but marred by the heavy handed use of “that day” just ruins it from time to time. I think that the Oscar nomination will ruin the response to it as well.
The question many would ask themselves is if they would’ve watched the film if it weren’t nominated at all.
I still would have watched it (at the risk of sounding like a broken record – dug the book). Do note though that I give it a passing grade, warts and all. What I take away from the film is that it’s good, when it could have been great…even with the elements that stem from “that day…the worst day”.
It wasn’t any good? I read the review and there is something strange about the story. Watch this space. Suffice to say, I won’t be watching this. Ever.
I never said it wasn’t good. I said it was messy, but not “bad”. If you put a gun to my head, I probably would take this over MONEYBALL or J. EDGAR.
I’m treading on murky ground here, and of course, Daldry’s direction could have been better, but the movie moves the same way Oskar behaves. And I think part of the audience’s discomfort towards this movie is watching someone like him in all his honesty and the ugly parts of his personality, and we don’t know how to react to him. Of course the
But it’s a pretty movie. So may nice shots, as you said. I don’t care if it’s over the top. I like it.
I didn’t think of that Paolo – nice catch.
As I mentioned, I did like some of the more frenetic moments where Oskar lets loose…so perhaps after another watch or two, I’d begin to see his character in those moments that left me colder as well.
Thanks for the comment.
Everything surrounding the book and film feels manipulative and I haven’t been inclined to give it a chance.
I saw far more manipulation in the pre-game of The Super Bowl. Give it a try sometime.
The pre-game and not the half-time show?
Given your feelings on the film it appears that the film couldn’t have been as manipulative as I feared.
Pregame. I swear with every passing year the videos created to introduce the film make it seem more and more like in between quarters a new face will be unveiled on Mt. Rushmore.
As for the level of manipulation, I think one gets the most out of it when they leave their baggage outside. If you do see it, forget about its nominations and about “a 9/11 film”.
Just sit down to watch a movie and take it as it comes.
I thought Extremely Loud was a decent movie. It’s biggest problem is balancing tact with emotional manipulation. You already know I’m cool with good emotional manipulation, but when you’re using 9/11 you’ve got to be careful, and sometimes the film goes a little too far over the edge. It’s never offensive, but sometimes the taste is questionable. That said, I think the film plays with really interesting themes of finding solace in family, friendship and community. Oskar is helped by people and helps others and that’s the prevailing message of the film, and I even thought using 9/11 was appropriate to the subject matter.
It all comes down to what you take away from it, right? I took away his attempt to reclaim something he believed was gone, and how his father had unintentionally left him one last mission that forced him to interact.
I also took away the fleeting moments with Viola Davis who shows that all you need to give her is five minutes of screentime and she will give you something beautiful. Her first scene with Oskar alone was worth the price of admission
I might give this a rent. I really don’t know what to think of it but the trailer didn’t really grab me. Sounds like it does have some fine moments, but doesn’t really hold up as a whole.
It holds up as a whole – my main criticism is that it’s not as good as the sum of its parts. Watching Oskar interact with strangers, seeing him trying to outrun his social anxieties, and thinking about his deep connection to his dad are the most interesting elements of the film. Once in a while, things start to crowd those elements and make them less enjoyable.