Movie Review - Extremely Loud and Up Close

Today I saw the Oscar nominated movie Extremely Loud and Upclose.  The premise is easy enough - it's one year after 9/11 and a young boy is trying to make sense out of "The Terrible Day."

A lot of reviewers didn't actually like the film too much, but I did.  I can usually find something I like in the movies I watch.  There are some worth seeing again and there are some that get the honor of being bought and finding space in my bookshelf.   If I want to see a movie again, most of the time I rent it and see it a second time that way.   There are the chosen few I'll actually pay twice to see on the Big Screen (The Help was one of those).  This film I will see again, by rental.

But back to Extremely Loud.  I was impressed by the young actor Thomas Horn who played Oskar Schell in the film.  Amazingly, this is his first film.  Before this, his five minutes of fame was on Jeopardy! where he won $31,000US on kids week.  Somehow that win led to this movie.  Hopefully it won't be his last.  Something tells me he might be a bit similar to the character he plays in the movie in that he had to be some sort of whiz kid to win all that money, and in the movie he's a walking encyclopedia.

I'm wondering to myself why he wasn't nominated for his role.  There have been a few other child stars that have been lucky and talented enough to walk the red carpet - Tatum O'Neil (youngest to win a supporting actress Oscar, at age 9) and Anna Paquin (the second youngest to win in the same category).  (Can you name the movies they were in?)  I think young Thomas is deserving of an Oscar nod, and I'm sure there are people definitely looking his way in any case.

The film took place in New York.  I was thinking while I was watching it that I'd like to research how many movies have actually taken place there, how many of the shops, stores, etc. that are featured are actually real, and what actor has been featured in the most movies taking place in New York.  I know, who cares right?  That's my trivia thirsty brain on overload.  And I'd also like to make a list of places to visit when I go to New York someday, that have been featured in films, like Central Park, and those boulders that you see being climbed with the skyline in the background.  In Extremely Loud there is a swing set that is near those boulders.  Are they really there?  Cuz if they are, I want to swing on them!

Watching a film that takes places after 9/11 made me think through that day again.  It made me think about the people who experienced it, who didn't survive it, the surviving thousands of people personally there that will never be the same because of it, who inhaled dust for days after being in the same vacinity as the collapsed buildings, the terrible noises of the planes crashing and the buildings imploding and people screaming and ambulances screeching and fire trucks blaring, and about the people of New York that looked each other in the eyes after that day with a different type of look, a knowing and understanding.

Sandra Bullock and Tom Hanks offered strong roles along side Thomas, as did Max van Sydow.  Viola Davis (The Help) was among the many people given less screen time, but not without importance.  I liked the many people that Oskar Schell meets on his journey - all who were somehow touched by 9/11 and who were touched by Oskar.  This movie identifies with pain and the importance of finding a way through it and past it, and allowing others to share and help in the process.  None of us are excluded from pain in our life, but how we find hope on the other side of it is important.

Do I think this movie will win the Oscar for Best Pic?  No.  Do I recommend you see it?  Yes.  Either in the theatre or at home will do.  I think it's a good movie for teens to see that can lead to some good discussion, though younger children might find it a bit long and might be disturbed by some of the movie's images of 9/11.  (Just because there is a young boy in it doesn't make it a kids movie.)  Rated M, mostly for content and subject matter, with one F-bomb if I remember correctly, and a couple of other milder expletives used in playful bantering.

Questions to ponder or to answer, if you'd like.
So, if you've seen this movie, what did you think?  Have you been to New York and what do you recommend for sight-seeing (this California girl needs suggestions!)?  What do you say to someone who is going through emotional pain that needs help and hope?

So let's talk movies and don't forget the popcorn!