Written by Linda
January 21, 2012
When all was said and done, I found that I cried more during the trailer for this movie than during the movie itself. And that is not a good sign.
When I first saw a trailer for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, it totally played me. To a soundtrack of U2's "Where the Streets Had No Name" I was practically sobbing within two minutes. Sure, using that song (which, for me, will always be associated with U2's incredibly moving post-9/11 Super Bowl performance) was manipulative, but I couldn't help but think this was a 9/11 movie that was going to really work.
Told through the eyes of a precocious 9-year-old boy named Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), the story—I was hoping—would offer a new perspective (from a the innocent eyes of a child) about a tragedy that even adults couldn't understand. It does, to a point. Oskar refers to 9/11 in a whisper as "the worst day". See, his father that he completely and utterly adored (Tom Hanks) was in the Twin Towers by fluke, and didn't come home. Oskar is confused, devastated, and furious, but keeps many of these emotions to himself, unless he is lashing out at his mother (Sandra Bullock, in a lovely understated turn).
To try to attach meaning to such a meaningless loss, Oskar becomes convinced that his father was trying to send him a message. The key to this message is quite literally a key, found in his dad's closet, in an envelope with only the handwritten word "Black" on it. With master plan involving maps, snacks, and a tambourine, Oskar decides to visit every person in the New York City buroughs named Black to see if they could help him find the lock to match the key... to solve the mystery that can maybe give him closure.
In theory, this film should have worked. It is an interesting take on a very difficult, sensitive subject. Through Oskar's quest, we see New York in all of its wonderful diversity, brought together by the tragedy. People touched by Oskar on his quest include an array of characters played by wonderful actors like Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, and Jeffrey Wright, who all manage to make an impression in minor roles.
But the problem is the kid. The kid is annoying. I'm not even sure if it was the actor who was annoying, or if it was the character, but he is an affected, smarty-pants, over-enunciating, insistent twerp. I really really tried to soften towards Oskar, and he does have his moments. But considering he is the focal point of the story, I found myself more interested in the people he was meeting, or in his mother for that matter (I couldn't help but think I would have rather have seen a movie about Bullock's character).
When all was said and done, I found that I cried more during that first trailer of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close than during the movie itself. And that is not a good sign.
