Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Movie Name: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Year of Release: 2011

Director: Stephen Daldry

Stars: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, Max Von Sydow, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Zoe Caldwell, John Goodman

Genre: Drama

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 7

Synopsis:

Stephen Daldry's new film after "The Reader" is a new literary adaptation, this time from Jonathan Safran Foer's book of the same name. The film follows the story of Oskar Schell, a young boy whose life is changed dramatically after his dad dies in the attacks of September 11th. Oskar finds a key in his father's belongings, and believes that the key is part of one of their intricate discovery games. He sets out to find where that key belongs, in the hopes of making the memory of his father persist more in his life. Through his quest he touches the life of many people in New York who were all affected by those attacks.
Stephen Daldry is a very intelligent director. In his previous efforts, from "Billy Elliot", through "The Hours" and "The Reader", he is a director who has always been able to allow actors to create real characters, not just types or uni dimensional compositions. "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close" deals with a very painful and still recent event, who affected the lives of so many people in the US and in the world in general. Focusing the aftermath of those events on the lives of a small family, allows to realize how the pain of one is actually something shared by so many. How someones quest sometimes leads people to unexpectedly help others. This is a film about the redemptive power of relationships, between parents, between disparaging people united by a common thread of finding peace. The film has great performances from Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock and Max Von Sydow, and features a stunning cinematography from Chris Menges. A very good film not to be missed.