Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Now pause for just a few seconds and look at the string of names that dot this movie. Lets start with Stephen Daldry. He has directed 6 actors to Oscar nominated roles. At least one of whom has won an Oscar (The Reader – Kate Winslet). He has directed 4 full length features starting with Billy Elliot and all of them have been brilliantly made. The Hours and The Reader were the ones in between – before he made what I would guess is his best effort to date with Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

And then we go onto multiple screenplay Oscar nominee called Eric Roth. Look at the list of movies he has to his credit. Benjamin Button, Munich, Ali, The Insider, Horse Whisperer & the mother of all – the one that got him Uncle Oscar – Forrest Gump. But the amount of meat provided by Jonathan S Foer’s 2005 Novel of the same name was sufficient enough to give yet another brilliant effort.

After these 2 big names one cannot help but look at the star cast and be quite certain that you are in for a really good movie when you look at names such as Tom “whatever I touch turns to gold” Hanks and Sandra “why was all that talent hidden to date” Bullock. And lets not forget some more stunning names – so what if their roles were not the most meaty – Viola Davis and John Goodman to name two.

But honestly, despite these big names, what will win your hearts in this super poignant drama will be the performances of one 14 year old who plays a 9 year old and another at the other end of the spectrum @ 82 years of age at the time of release. Thomas Horn plays the role of the young Oskar Schell who loses his father Thomas (Tom Hanks) thanks to a maniac who masterminded a couple of planes into an identical pair of landmark buildings in New York.

Oskar happens to walk into his father’s closet, over a year after the “worst” day and finds a key inside a blue vase. Thinking that it is a message left by his father, he decides to track down the lock that the key is meant for. He traces down over 400 people with the surname of Black across the 5 boroughs of New York. As he goes through the gut wrenching activity, he meets a variety of people and also makes friends with someone who is staying with his grandmother who is called The Renter (Max Von Sydow) for lack of any other word.

Ensure that you carry as much of tissue paper as possible for this guaranteed tear jerker. Not only because of a brilliant storyline but also because of some stunning performances – one from a teenager and another from an octogenarian. 8 on 10 for certain.

Watch the trailer at http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2238291481/