Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Let me be about the gazillionth person to add their voice to the chorus declaiming this film as a serious Oscar contender. It isn't as bad as all that, I'm actually a big fan of the book and the film does a nice enough job of translating it to the screen... but, in it's all-too-obvious contention for Oscar glory, the quirkiness and inventiveness of the novel becomes schmaltz and unwelcome earnestness. All the humour is lost. It's not a bad film but yes, I have to agree, it didn't deserve to be nominated for Oscars. Max Von Sydow swindled Albert Brooks' Best Supporting Oscar nomination spot.

The kid in this film (Thomas Horn) isn't an actor but he still comes across as remarbly natural and avoids overt precociousness. Precociousness is actually one of the character's most indelible traits in the book but it wouldn't translate favourably to the film, so I'm glad the filmmakers realised this and toned it down. Unfortunately, the film is all about this kid (despite the fact that the book focuses equally on the character of 'The Renter'). I'm not one of those people who demands that film versions of books should always be faithful to the source material. I prefer to look at these things on a case-by-case basis, and in the case of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close it feels like a mistake to cut out all the colour and subplots from the novel. It feels too much like the director and writer wanted a story that was solely about 9/11, rather than a story that was about significantly more than this.

The book that this film is based on actually dealt with ideas relating to 9/11 in a subtle and unique way. It doesn't even really become apparent that this is what the book is about until quite far into it. By comparison, this film starts with Tom Hanks falling from the twin towers and then shows us his funeral. It's so obviously manipulative. And goddamit, the movie still made me cry. In a way it's hilariously irresponsible for this book/film to suggest that a kid can wander around New York making friends with every stranger and not get robbed, bashed, murdered or raped (even with certain revelations that shed light on his journey later on) and this is definitely something a pre-9/11 film would never have suggested. But now New York has this spirit of unity, so somehow nothing bad happens there anymore.

It's easy to be cynical about this film (as evidenced by my review so far) but I'm trying (and failing) to resist this urge because it's still quite a well-made film and I know there are plenty of people out there who would enjoy it. Despite my misgivings, and how much I hate being manipulated by this sort of thing, I still got some enjoyment out of it. I can't really fault the poor reception this movie got, but it sucks that so many people hate it because the source material is absolutely fantastic and not at all the manipulative Oscar-bait that the film is. In an alternative universe, the film might've been done better and put more people onto the book.

Oh, and Tom Hanks is about as Jewish as a pork knuckle.

DIRECTOR: Stephen Daldry
WRITER/SOURCE: Eric Roth, based on the novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.
KEY ACTORS: Thomas Horn, Max Von Sydow, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, John Goodman, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Caldwall, Hazelle Goodman

RELATED TEXTS
- The novel Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, who also wrote the novel Everything is Illuminated.
- Other films about 9/11: World Trade Center, United 93, Flight 93, Rebirth and Reign Over Me.
- Stephen Daldry's best film is Billy Elliot. Daldry also chased Oscar glory with The Reader and The Hours.

AWARDS
Academy Awards - nominated for Best Film and Best Supporting Actor (Max Von Sydow)