Extremely long and incredibly clumsy

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Director Stephen Daldry Screenwriters Eric Roth, Jonathan Safran Foer (novel) Cast Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn

A lot of negative hype surrounds the latest film from Academy Award nominated director Stephen Daldry. As the overly sentimental, manipulative film that stole the much-coveted Best Picture slot from Drive, the lowest rated film on Rotten Tomatoes that made it to the nominations list in this year’s Oscars, it looks as though Daldry’s most recent work won’t be receiving similar attention his previous films such as Billy Elliot and The Hours enjoyed.

9/11 is a delicate subject that cannot be taken lightly in fictitious work. Set a foot wrong and you will most likely offend those who were involved in the incident. It remains a fresh wound, and therefore the subject needs careful direction. But with Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Daldry is too careful – and is so worried of doing anything ever so slightly wrong that he struggles to aim higher. The story centres on a young, intelligent boy, Oskar (Horn), who may or may not have Asperger’s Syndrome (“the tests were inconclusive”), who loses his father (Hanks) in one of the Towers. He and his father were close, and the many expeditions his father sent him on, a set of elaborate treasure hunts riddled with fascinating clues and investigations, are no more.

A year goes by, and finally working up the courage to enter his father’s room which has been left untouched by his mother (Bullock), he finds an envelope with the name “Black” written on it, and inside, a key. Interpreting this as his deceased father’s one last expedition set out for Oskar to embark on, he makes it his mission to find out what this key opens and why his father left it hidden for him. His hunt takes him all over New York, as he slowly works his way through visiting every single person in the city named Black, asking about his father. He meets a variety of characters, none of whom can help him regarding the key.

Every encounter he has with a different stranger is somehow a new lesson learned. A long list of fantastic supporting actors surround Oskar in his journey: Viola Davis and Jeffrey Wright play a couple going through a divorce, John Goodman is the sympathetic doorman, Zoe Caldwell is the caring and concerned grandmother, Bullock as the mother he doesn’t quite appreciate, and most memorably, Max von Sydow as an old renter in Oskar’s grandmother’s house who he befriends. He doesn’t speak, and communicates by writing notes, and with the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ written on the palms of his hands. With absolutely no dialogue, von Sydow enters the film with warmth, immediately befriending Oskar, becoming the only person the young boy can vent his anger to.

The problem with Daldry’s film is this: it only makes a lasting emotional impact using its supporting characters. Nothing substantial ever materialises from the boy alone, and his quest to finding the right lock for his key loses steam very quickly, because something this far-fetched will not have a meaningful answer – and surprise, surprise, the mystery behind the key is nothing more than a simple misunderstanding, almost rendering the long build-up useless. Oskar is furious when he finds out, and chances are, you will be, too.

Horn, a new discovery in his remarkable screen debut, doesn’t have the luck of playing a likable part – often the boy’s naive yet relentless obsession is irritating to watch – as he lashes out at those trying to help him. The constant flashback that shows Oskar’s painful reaction to his father’s death is often too forced for its own good, and it’s far from a pleasant experience being repeatedly bombarded with heavy-handed scenes. Oskar is a unique child but the film fails to explore any deeper into the boy’s upbringing or surroundings that attempt to explain his character.

Much like this year’s string of disappointing films (J. Edgar, The Iron Lady), Daldry puts together a wonderful ensemble of actors, but doesn’t know quite what to do with all the talented individuals in the cast. There are unquestionably moving moments, thanks largely to Bullock (watch as she steals the final few moments of the film) and Davis, but even all of these do not add up to much, leaving the central protagonist with a lame little adventure with hardly any sense of fulfillment. The final scene is an even bigger disappointment, brutally trivialising the rest of the film. We spent two hours watching the trials and struggles of an immature little boy with far too much to handle at his age. But what does this all mean and come down to? Shockingly, not a lot.