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Year of release: 2011
Director: Stephen Daldry
Writers: Eric Roth (screenplay); Jonathan Safran Foer (novel)
Starring: Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Thomas Horn, etc.

For more information on “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”, visit Wikipedia and/or IMDb

 

General impression:
The kid, Thomas Horn, is great. The movie starts with an awesome father-son relationship, and continues with a story about the “modest” reality behind the 9/11 “saga” – many lives were abruptly lost on that day, and many more lives were just as abruptly changed by this unjust and absurd event. Those who died had families, relatives and friends, people who loved and miss them. At least one of those who died in the 9/11 attacks had a son, a boy like Oskar (Thomas Horn’s character) maybe, a kid that had to cling on to a hope for meaning in order to get his life back to normal, facing and overcoming his fears all alone, meeting all kinds of people and making friends along the way, even changing lives. I’m glad this is not a movie about terrorism, but about life going on. I’m a bit intrigued that it is considered by some false and sentimentally “engineered” – I guess, some people, in an ocean of interpretation, theory, and (per-)mutations of facts, have forgotten that there is still love, loss, pain, and recovery. And that kid, Thomas Horn… he’s great.

Highlights:
It made me cry 🙂

Downside:
There is something about this film that can make it seem deceivingly sentimental. It lacks the bridge some might need in order to perceive the facts and the feelings as a whole.

Would I see it again? – Yes, someday

My Rating (1 to 10): 9

Recommended: Yes

Suggestion:
It’s a good choice for a late fall/winter evening when you have a hot drink, some cookies and lots of handkerchiefs close.