An 11 Year Old Boy's Epic Quest, Borough by Borough.
Extemely LOUD & Incredibly CLOSE
- Opened December 25, 2011|on DVD March 27, 2012| Runtime:129 min.
- Oskar (Thomas Horn), who lost his father (Tom Hanks) in the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, is convinced that his dad left a final message for him somewhere in the city. Upon finding a mysterious key in his father's closet, Oskar sets out in search of the lock it fits. Feeling disconnected from his grieving mother (Sandra Bullock) and driven by a tirelessly active mind, Oskar has a journey of discovery that takes him beyond his loss and leads to a greater understanding of the world.
- Cast: Tom Hanks, Thomas Horn, Sandra Bullock, Zoe Caldwell, Dennis Hearn, Paul Klementowicz, Julian Tepper, Caleb Reynolds, John Goodman, Max von Sydow, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Lorna Pruce, Viola Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Hazelle Goodman, Bernadette Drayton, David Latham, Marty Krzywonos, Jim Norton, Carmen M. Herlihy
- Director: Stephen Daldry
- Genres: Drama/Adventure/Mystery
- Rating: A
This film, in my opinion, is one of the best films of the year. In fact among the best of several years. Young Thomas Horn (a 13 year old Jeopardy winner with no previous acting expeirence, cast as Oskar Schell) delivers an astounding, nuanced and touching performance far beyond his years. He certainly holds his own among an ensemble of very accomplished actors, including Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock, Max Von Sydow and Viola Davis whom you may recall from The Help.
He begins calling on all the people named Black he can find, asking if they knew his father or if they know anything about his father's key.
Oskar crosses the five New York boroughs in quest of the missing lock – encountering an eclectic assortment of people who are each survivors in their own way – he begins to uncover unseen links to the father he misses,
to the mother who seems so far away from him and to the whole noisy, dangerous, inexplicable world around him.
A mysterious old man who has recently moved into a room across the way at the apartment of his grandmother (Zoe Caldwell) fortunately, at a certain point begins to accompany Oskar on his quest. The man, known only as The Renter (Max von Sydow), doesn't speak, and instead writes down anything he has to communicate on slips of paper.
As someone who spent his young adult life growing up in New York City, perhaps I have a different perspective, that it strikes a different cord with me than someone who never lived in Manhattan. Maybe simply growing up as a boy facilitates in relating to the pathos expressed in the film. That aside, the film's message of loss, pain, family, hope, searching, discovery, love and healing can most assuredly be related to by anyone who has grown up human.
“The worst day” is how young Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) understandably refers to 9/11, the day his jeweler father was murdered in the twin towers while there for a meeting. 
It is the tale of post 9/11 trauma and a boy's effort to piece things together after his father's meaningless death, portrayed in multiple flashbacks, Oskar and his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) shared an unusually close relationship, with the dad concocting all manner of intellectually challenging games and propositions that his son happily accepted. His mother (Sandra Bullock)
played no part in this and their distance from one another has not diminished in the year since his death, the vivid memory of which is preserved by a series of six progressively agitated phone messages from Thomas on the fateful morning that his son secretly plays over and over.
It is the tale of post 9/11 trauma and a boy's effort to piece things together after his father's meaningless death, portrayed in multiple flashbacks, Oskar and his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) shared an unusually close relationship, with the dad concocting all manner of intellectually challenging games and propositions that his son happily accepted. His mother (Sandra Bullock)
played no part in this and their distance from one another has not diminished in the year since his death, the vivid memory of which is preserved by a series of six progressively agitated phone messages from Thomas on the fateful morning that his son secretly plays over and over. 
After his father's death, Oskar discovers among his father's belongings, in his closet, a blue vase containing an envelope marked Black; inside is a key to what appears to be a safe-deposit box. Oskar becomes obsessed with finding out whom the key belongs to, and his quest takes him on a journey through the five boroughs of New York.
Oskar believes his grieving mother has become introverted and withdrawn after the death of her husband creating a chilled barrier between herself and her son. Leaving him alone to battle with his own demons.
Oskar does manage to learn that this secretive old man was born in Germany and that his parents died in the bombing of Dresden, that he was once married and had a son but the man won't address the reason for his silence. Oskar reasonably suspects The Renter is his grandfather but proof is not forthcoming.
If you are the type who maintains a movie library at home, this one is well worth inclusion. The official DVD release is scheduled tomorrow, March 27.
The film is an Eric Roth-penned adaptation of the Jonathan Safran Foer novel.
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