Yep, it’s Academy Awards time, and from the outside ‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ is a sure fire, if slightly cynical, award magnet. Two previous winners in Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks, a three-time nominee in ‘Billy Elliot’ director Stephen Daldry, and a tear-jerking subject given that this story is set to the backdrop of 9/11. The impression proved correct, as the film has garnered two Oscar nominations, but is it worth all this buzz?
Traumatised by the loss of his father (Tom Hanks) in the September 11 attacks, Oskar (Thomas Horn) struggles to accept this tragedy and becomes distant from his also grieving mother (Sandra Bullock). He finds hope in a key he finds at the back of his father’s wardrobe. Reminded of the many expeditions he and his father enjoyed during their lives, where he would be challenged to overcome one of his many phobias (such as talking to strangers) to solve a puzzle), he convinced that this is another of those expeditions, and that this key will reveal a message from his father. He searches the five boroughs of New York looking for the lock that fits the key, and in doing so encounters the many lives shattered by the attacks.
When a movie starts with a speech about creating ‘skyscrapers for dead people’, you know you’re in for a tough couple of hours. Sadly, ‘Extremely Loud, and Incredibly Close’ bites off more than it can chew, oddly trying to use this one boy’s story as an emotional purge for 9/11, a tragedy surely too large to be summed up so glibly. Daldry’s direction is always solid, and he couldn’t wish for a better cast, however too often it veers off into pretention. What happened in New York over a decade ago deserves more serious contemplation, and the film’s glossy, Oscar-friendly saccharine approach feels a bit cynical at times.
It’s hard to cast a child lead in a movie that is both sincere and endearing. Luckily, Horn is the most impressive quality to this film, reminding you of the human cost of these kinds of events far more effectively than the story’s insistence to shove solemnity down your throat. Hanks is always engaging, and whilst his character is almost too good to be true at times, the fact that his story is told in flashback gives this saintly portrayal some logic, as it is the memories of a loving son. Bullock and Max Von Sydow have their moments, but the limelight is rightly stolen by the young lead.
It will certainly spark the odd tear in audience members, but only through battering you into submission with scenes designed to make you well up. One can’t help but feel manipulated into thinking that this is a better film than it is, as strong performances can’t gloss over the fact that this is a film that uses hackneyed storytelling devices to shock you into liking it.
Released 17th February.
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