Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Movie Review
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
Review by Eric D. Snider
Grade: C+
Rating: PG-13
Released: Sunday, December 25, 2011
Directed by:
Cast:
The 9/11 terrorist attacks may eventually serve as source material or inspiration for dozens of movies, fact-based and fictional, just as World War II and the Kennedy assassination have. But so far, with only a few exceptions, filmmakers have been hesitant to address the subject directly. To their credit, they've been even more cautious about using 9/11 as the background for a story that didn't need to be about 9/11. Ten years later, the general policy is still that movies don't mention 9/11 explicitly unless there's a good reason for it.
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" might be the first major film to break that unspoken rule, and I'm not sure it even knows it's doing it. For while this is the story of a young boy whose father died in the Twin Towers, it's really just about finding closure and moving on after a senseless and unimaginable loss. Nothing about the drama's execution suggests that it is, at its core, a September 11th story. The kid's dad might just as well have died in a car accident.
The thing is, I enjoyed Jonathan Safran Foer's poignant 2005 novel. It felt like a 9/11 story, not like a story about grieving that happened to use 9/11 as the backdrop. Somehow it lost that flavor in its transition to the big screen -- maybe because so many of the boy's interactions with fellow New Yorkers, which contributed thematically, had to be cut for time. What we're left with, as adapted by Eric Roth ("Forrest Gump," "Munich") and directed by Stephen Daldry ("Billy Elliot," "The Hours"), is a well-meaning but perfunctory story that doesn't justify its use of what the boy calls "the worst day."
The boy, Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn), is an unusually precocious 11-year-old who almost certainly has Asperger's syndrome, though the movie devotes one line of dialogue to establishing that he doesn't. (But really, he does.) He's bright and methodical, has a mind for details and figures, and isn't very good at reading other people's feelings. His adoring father, Thomas (Tom Hanks), used to create elaborate scavenger hunts for him to test and strengthen his mind, and the two were inseparable. (We see them in flashbacks interspersed throughout the film.) Thomas died on 9/11, leaving behind not just Oskar but a grief-stricken wife, Linda (Sandra Bullock), and an elderly German mother (Zoe Caldwell).
Now, some months later, Oskar finds a small envelope in his father's coat pocket, and in this envelope is a key. Written on the envelope is the word "BLACK," which Oskar decides is a name. Desperate to maintain any remaining connection he has to his father, Oskar resolves to find the lock that goes with the key, first tracking down this "BLACK" person.
This leads Oskar to have numerous encounters with strangers (whom he usually avoids) and to travel all over the city (ditto). His experiences tend to be overly precious, as when he meets one Abby Black (Viola Davis) and has a conversation with her about elephant tears while her husband moves out of their house. Nothing about the exchange is plausible. Not a bit of it feels like real life. The same goes for his subsequent meetings with horseback riders, people in prayer circles, a deaf man, and all the others who appear in his Searching For The Lock montages.
Things start to look up when Oskar meets the elderly man (Max von Sydow) who rents a room from his grandmother. Simply called the Renter, the mysterious old fellow doesn't speak, but uses hand signals and notepads to communicate. He accompanies Oskar on some of his travels and helps him to feel more comfortable doing things like using public transportation.
Oskar narrates the film in his distinctive, numbers-obsessed, nerd-in-training motormouth fashion. I find him sympathetic and fascinating, and I'm curious to see what becomes of the intense young actor who plays him. But the character can rub people the wrong way. Nearly everyone I've talked to who dislikes the film -- and there are many who dislike it a lot -- cites Oskar as the deal-breaker, finding him irritating and obnoxious. I didn't have the same reaction, but I can see how someone who doesn't like the kid wouldn't be able to tolerate the movie.
Even as one who likes the kid, I didn't feel the emotional catharsis that the film obviously intended. The boy's mother disappears for most of the film, and the explanation for it is contrived and false-sounding, a disappointing end to what could have been a sweet subplot about Oskar and Mom bonding after their loss. The old man who doesn't talk disappears too, for no good reason. Oskar keeps being left alone to flounder through his grieving process, and it's all just a little too fanciful and unrealistic to be satisfying.
I don't think the film is disrespectful to the memory of those who died on 9/11, because I think the film is earnest. Misguided, maybe, but not intentionally calculating or phony. Regardless of which specific tragedy launches it, though, Oskar's journey doesn't ring true.
Grade: C+
Rated PG-13, a little profanity, some intense themes
2 hrs., 9 min.
Copyright © Eric D. Snider.
This work may not be transmitted via the Internet, nor reproduced in any other way, without written consent from Eric D. Snider.
This item has 9 comments
January 19, 2012 at 8:36 am
I've never even heard of this movie, but after reading your review, it does sound disappointing.
January 20, 2012 at 12:10 am
my sister and I saw the trailer for this movie together.
I thought the boy obviously had aspergers. My sister had no idea what I was talking about, and said he seemed "so normal."
My sister, incidentally, has aspergers.
We kind of wanted to see it to settle the argument, but you've saved us the trouble.
sortof...It seems very strange to me that they would actively say he didn't have it. If you're not going to embrace the condition, why bring it up? It's usually considered under-diagnosed, not over
Do you remember if he had aspergers or not in the book?
January 20, 2012 at 8:59 am
As someone whose professional work is with individuals who have Asperger's Syndrome, I can say that it is extremely common for either the person or their family to be in active denial about the diagnosis. The unfortunate stigma associated with autism spectrum disorders means that most people view it as an undesirable label--that somehow if they have Asperger's they are not really "smart".
Hollywood reinforces this stigma by portraying those with Asperger's as generally lower functioning and unchangeable ("Adam" is only kind of an exception). "Successful" charaters, even those with obvious Asperger's like BBT's Sheldon, or Dr. House, are often explicitly said to NOT have the syndrome, or at least have their symptoms overlooked or explained away by something else.
Thus, Rainman has autism, but the Asperger's like symptoms of his brother, (Tom Cruise's character, who has obvious social/communication/emotional control/empathy problems and clear fixations), is never admitted. (Seriously though--go back and watch Rainman with this in mind. I don't know if it's intentional or not, but Tom Cruise's performance is a pretty great protrayal of undiagnosed adult Asperger's). Nic Cage in National Treasure, Ryan Gosling in Drive--these guys could be my clients (minus the Hollywood touches). The list goes on and on.
I wish the entertainment industry would stop reinforcing the stigma and portray more affirming models of autism, but I guess it's just unlikely to happen anytime soon.
Sorry for the rant, Eric. The film sucked, but I'm glad that you pointed out the same thing I noticed about the protagonist.
January 22, 2012 at 12:08 pm
Two things:
1 - I thought Oskar said in the movie that the tests for Asbergers were '' inconclusive'', which is not the same as saying he doesn't have it.
2 - Oskar find the key in a vase, not his dad's pocket, which is a pretty important plot point.
January 24, 2012 at 10:52 pm
just curious, but if this boy had Asperger's, wouldn't he not have been close with his dad while he was alive? and wouldn't he not have gone out and interacted with strangers, or cared enough to track down a person who had a connection to his dad and not him? i had always thought that people with Asperger's live in their own world, and prefer to be by themselves and not socially interact with anyone. i also thought that they have real difficulty building relationships with anyone, even family members. i don't know, maybe i have only read about or seen portrayals of severe cases, like the kid character on NBC's "Parenthood" (who appears to have absolutely no care or feelings for anyone in his life, including his close-by-relation family members who care deeply about him).
January 25, 2012 at 2:08 pm
If you want to know more about what it's like to have Asperger's syndrome, I recommend reading "Look Me in the Eye" by John Elder Robison. He has Asperger's, and the book is fascinating. His son also has it, and they recently did an article about him in the NY Times.
As for the movie, I just can't seem to get up enough interest to care about it or go see it. I'll probably watch it when it's on TV.
January 30, 2012 at 12:29 pm
Hi Doogie,
The kid in Parenthood (which I haven't watched) sounds exactly like what I was talking about. Hollywood seems to purposely portray "diagnosed" individuals as far lower-functioning than their real-life counterparts.
Those with Asperger's Syndrome generally WANT to be around other people, and often develop EXTREMELY strong bonds with "safe" individuals (parents, children, pets, spouses, etc). They can express this unconventionally, and they often don't mind pursuing their interests by themselves, but they are very definitely social.
February 5, 2012 at 11:58 pm
Asberger's Syndrome contains a huge spectrum of different cases, everyone is different.
There is no reason to say that he "couldn't" be close or go outside, that's far to "extreme" to be applicable to most people with Asberger's.
Two of my favorite movies about the syndrome are:
Adam
Mozart and the Whale
One of the above comments already mentioned Adam. I highly recommend it.
February 7, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Worst. Best. Picture. Nominee. EVER!!!