“Extremely Loud and Incredibly

Close” is based off a novel by Jonathan Safran Foer, published in

2005. It is set in the early 2000s, around the time of 9/11.

The central character is 9-year-old

Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), who lives in New York City with his

parents Thomas (Tom Hanks) and Linda Schell (Sandra Bullock).

Oskar is a special child. He is

intelligent but is also different because of his awkwardness in

social situations and his fear of everything. Oskar has a close

relationship with his father and he spends a lot of time with him

doing many activities such as scavenger hunts.

Unfortunately, Oskar loses his

father in the 9/11 attacks, which is a tear-jerking moment in the

film. What makes the film interesting is the audience can relate to

it, especially if they are old enough to have understood the 9/11

tragedy when it happened.

During the attacks, Thomas leaves

messages on the family’s answering machine. This is sad to watch

because Oskar has to listen to all of them and, worst of all, he

does not get to talk to his dad one last time.

A year after the attacks, Oskar

stumbles upon a key in an envelope marked “Black” that was in a

blue vase in his father’s closet. He thinks this key goes to a lock

that will lead him to find out something about his father before

his death, therefore Oskar looks up all the people with the last

name “Black” in New York City and vows to meet all of them. The

storyline is great because it keeps you wondering whether Oskar

will succeed in finding out the meaning of the key or not.

Horn, in his feature film debut, is

the best part of the film. He shines as he brings Oskar to life

from book to screen. Horn may be young, but he has a natural talent

for acting and I can see him being around for many years.

Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright play

minor roles as Abby and William Black, two people Oskar meets on

his search for the key’s meaning. Both actors were interesting

minor characters and brought great emotional aspects to the

story.

Max Von Syndow plays the stranger,

known as “The Tenant,” who lives with Oskar’s grandmother. Syndow

was superb in this role because he ended up being surprisingly

likable. 

Some moments in the film dragged on

a bit, including the beginning of the film and some of the

flashback moments. It got annoying at times because some of the

flashback scenes were not necessary and made the film longer than

it should have been. Nevertheless, it was still great and worth it

to watch.

Oskar learns a lot from his

experiences and I believe the audience will be satisfied with how

the film concludes.

“Extremely Loud and Incredibly

Close” is an amazing movie with lots of heart in it, and I would

recommend checking it out before it leaves theaters.  

Brittany Lambert can be reached

at [email protected].