EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE (B-)

Bottom Line: This very well made and awkwardly uneven film was INCREDIBLY CLOSE to pulling me in, full bore, with its tale of loss, grief and hope yet EXTREMELY LOUD in its pretentious shout for Oscar gold (the distancing, mostly-grating, 11-year old lead actor probably didn’t help either). There’s a cornucopia of emotion up for grabs and it’s sometimes powerful, occasionally touching…but almost always about as manipulatingly subtle as a pillowcase of unopened soda cans to the head. It’s a good movie…but not THAT good…


Starring: Thomas Horn, Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Jeffrey Wright, Viola Davis, John Goodman and Max Von Sydow
Directed by: Stephen Daldry (BILLY ELLIOT, THE HOURS and THE READER)
Rated: PG-13
Running time: 129 minutes
Story: Oskar is convinced that his father, who died in the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, has left a final message for him hidden somewhere in the city. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother and driven by a relentlessly active mind that refuses to believe in things that can't be observed, Oskar begins searching New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key he found in his father's closet. His journey through the five boroughs takes him beyond his own loss to a greater understanding of the observable world around him. (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Trailer: www.extremelyloudandincrediblyclose.warnerbros.com