Buy it 3/27/12 on Blu-ray Combo Pack with UltraViolet Digital Copy and Download to own.
For anyone who experienced September 11th 2011- and that is everyone over the age of about 13- viewing “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” is a very personal experience. Watching young Oskar Schell try to put the pieces of his world together after the “Worst Day” loosens the memories and makes you feel the pain of that day again.
On the “Worst Day,” Oskar lost his father, the wonderful Thomas Schell (Tom Hanks) who we fall in love with in the brief period we meet the man and most is due largely to the fact the Thomas seems a lot like the real Tom Hanks. Before the towers fell, Thomas was a caring father that saw to Oskar’s special needs (the kid may or may not have Aspergers syndrome and I’m putting money on “may have”) and allowed Oskar to face his fears by constructing various “Reconnaissance Missions”. He would leave clues around the Five Burroughs of New York, forcing Oskar’s inventive mind to fit the pieces together and speak with strangers for tips and advice.
After his father had already been gone for a year and his mother Linda (Sandra Bullock), still sulked around, broken; Oskar finds a key hidden in a blue vase in his father’s closet. The key is tucked in an envelope with the last name “Black” written on it. Oskar thinks this is a clue and the beginning of a final Mission as he combs the city for every person with the last name Black to find the connection with his father. Oskar hopes that what the key will unlock will help him make sense of the “Worst Day” so that he can find meaning in losing a perfect father that just happened to have a meeting in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11th.
“ELIC” is a hard one, filled with sadness and mourning. It is near impossible to not relive your own pain from that day but it gives an important image of the people who were directly affected and lost someone. The people that Oskar meets on his journey paint a picture of a healing city that had to process this together.
The film is all about the performances and everyone involved here shines. Tom Hanks was a no-brainer choice for Thomas and, because of our immediate recognition of the megastar, the tears come easy when he is lost to us. The majority of his performance is conveyed through phone messages, no easy task. Of course Mr. Hanks pulls it off. Sandra Bullock spends most of the film in tears, emoting proper but she-like her character- is mostly absent. Max Von Sydow gives a wonderful, speechless performance as The Renter; a mute who is renting a room from Oskar’s grandmother and joins the child on his quest. His performance is subtle and filled with nuance and never does it feel like a gimmick.
The revelation here is Thomas Horn as Oskar. The young actor has a huge and challenging role and never plays him has too disconnected or disabled. The entire film depends on Horn and he must go head-to-head with some strong actors throughout and he succeeds with a marvel of a performance.
Blu-ray Special Features:
· Finding Oskar Featurette
· Making Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
· Ten Years Later
· Max Von Sydow: Dialogues with The Renter
· UltraViolet Digital Copy