Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

This movie based on the book of the same name was released in late December, 2011 and nominated for Best Picture. This was a movie we watched on streaming one night in between videos being sent to us. I was not expecting much. I have to admit that quite a few years ago I had attempted the book but not completed it. At the time it just did not seem to be a well thought out book.

The reviews I had read for the movie were not that strong either. I am happy to report however that I might have been right about the book, but the movie adaption was actually quite good with some affecting performances.

Oskar Schell is a young boy living in New York City on September, 11, 2011. As the terrible events of that morning unfold Oskar's school is let out early and as he arrives home to an empty apartment the phone rings. He hears his father's voice on the machine as he does not pick up. He is scared. He knows vaguely that something is happening but as he hears the tremble in his father's voice and then turns on the television he sees the towers come down just a his father's phone call is cut off.

We meet Oskar's father in flashbacks. Played by Tom Hanks, his father is a German American who devises maps and puzzles for Oskar to have to solve. Both as a way to share something and as a not obvious way for Oskar to overcome his shyness it is something they share.

How Oskar deals with his father's death, how his Mother ( Sandra Bulluck) tries to help him, and the incredible last puzzle that Oskar's Dad sends him on from beyond the grave leads to the major plot point of the movie.

Some reviews said that the boy Oskar, played by Thomas Horn, is not a likable character. He is a challenging character, he also is a young boy whose father was ripped away from him on live television. I think expecting a cuddly warm character might be a little too much.

The supporting cast in this movie is very strong. Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, and the incredible John Goodman. Every character Goodman takes, big or small becomes a highlight of a movie, he is, one of the great character actors of his generation, one who is amazingly underrated. He has come a far distance from Dan Connor on Roseanne.

I myself do not think this is a great movie, it is certainly not Oscar worthy. It was however a good movie, and it told what could have been a fairly conventional story with a very unconventional angle. With movies in general following so much cookie cutter formula these days the directors who attempt to go off the beaten path should be acknowledged as well as the actors and actresses who take on less certain, less sure thing roles. Well worth watching.