When a film conveys true sentiment to the extent that viewers are compelled to emit emotional responses of their own, that film has succeeded as each viewer understands a movie through his own unique perspective. Consequently, dramatic directors often have trouble developing stories with which all viewers can sympathize. Director Stephen Daldry eschews poignancy and authenticity in his film "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" as he instead elects to manipulate viewers with recurring reminders of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
Based on the novel by Jonathan SafranFoer, "Extremely Loud" follows a socially inept but fantastically smart young boy named Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn). Though frequently shy and cripplingly idiosyncratic, Oskar finds solace in bonding with his father, Thomas (Tom Hanks), a jeweler who stimulates his son's creativity by sending him on daring "expeditions" throughout New York City. Yet Oskar's intimate bond with his father hinders his personal development as he finds it difficult to connect with outsiders, including his mother (Sandra Bullock). On a day that seems like any other, Oskar returns home early from school to find the answering machine full of messages from a disoriented, yet reassuring, Thomas. After switching on the news, Oskar learns the agonizing truth: Thomas Schell is one of thousands of victims of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
Following an internal coping period in which Oskar is physically unable to enter his father's closet, Oskar musters up the courage to peruse his father's belongings. Among them he finds a blue vase that, upon crashing on the floor, reveals a mysterious envelope labeled "Black." Inside the envelope is an ordinary key, which Oskar believes may open some sort of doorway into his father's past. Oskar's mission to uncover his father's final mystery becomes a journey of self-discovery as he resolves to meet and cross-examine every person in New York City with the surname "Black."
Though over ten years have passed since Sept. 11, 2001, the harrowing memory of the attacks endures. Americans of different generations can all recall that fateful day, down to the minutiae of where they were when it happened and what they were doing. All will be forever affected by the suddenness of the attacks, which exposed life as inherently fragile and indiscriminately unjust.
In "Extremely Loud," Daldry relies on the inherent sorrow induced by recollections of Sept. 11 to elicit viewer reactions and sympathy. But the film would be better served by furthering the viewers' understanding of the relationship between Oskar and his father.
Director Daldry toys with his audience's emotions, evoking disturbing images of the attacks, including a rendering of the smoldering Twin Towers and a particularly haunting — but fleeting — image of Thomas Schell plunging downward from one hundred stories. Yet the film is overly dramatic, as audiences are hard-pressed to identify a single character — whether in a lead role or in the ensemble — who is not pictured sobbing silently or bawling outright at some point during the film.
The disjointed structure of the film simply adds to its somber theme, as any one sincere moment may be supplanted by a jarring return to Sept. 11 and its devastating consequences. The tone is consistent throughout, and Daldry provides little relief for his emotionally tormented viewers.
One notable fountain of relief is the appearance of Oskar's newfound friend, a wizened man simply known as "The Renter" (Max von Sydow). Von Sydow — who garnered an Oscar nomination for his role in the film — does his best impression of the similarly acclaimed "The Artist," playing a mute whose only forms of communication are scribbling quips on a notepad and gesticulating emotively with his expressive eyebrows and wide mouth. The back and forth of the rambling Oskar and the taciturn Renter inject much-needed humor and normalcy into the film.
Despite the dismal ambiance that characterizes "Extremely Loud," the message at the film's core is touching. In his attempts to find himself and honor his father, Oskar acquires a newfound appreciation for human life. "Extremely Loud" exalts the everyman as not only a necessary contributor to society, but a unique vehicle for love and happiness.
Most viewers, however, will find the film's ultimate payoff a paltry concession considering the melancholy content that occupies the better part of the two-hour film.
Thus, Daldry's testament to family and life itself never truly captivates audiences; instead, it picks incessantly at a wound that, for most Americans, has not yet fully healed.
