Jonathan Safran Foer’s 2005 novel Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close captured what thousands of Americans were feeling on September 11, 2001. It was a risk for Foer to revisit such a difficult time in American history only a few years after it happened. Yet, Foer found a way to tug at his readers’ heartstrings and make them see the 9/11 attacks in a new way. Screenwriter Eric Roth and director Stephen Daldry took it upon themselves to adapt this novel into a film and present Foer’s story to an even larger audience. Together, and with the help of two incredibly talented actors, they produced a film that even the toughest individuals would struggle to walk away from dry eyed. Much of the emotion and the intensity of the story is a testament to Foer’s amazing writing ability, but again, it was these actors--particularly Thomas Horn (Oskar Schell)--that ultimately pulled everything together and made the film as heart-wrenching as it was. Young Thomas Horn portrayed an autistic nine-year-old boy on the adventure of a lifetime. Having just lost his father (Thomas Schell [Tom Hanks]) in the 9/11 attacks, he sets off on a journey to find the lock in which a key he has just located will fit. On his journey throughout the five boroughs of New York he learns much about his deceased father, he locates a long-lost relative (his grandfather, better known as the renter [Max von Sydow]) and he meets the man for whom the key was meant. As he follows his father on a journey of self-discovery, he secretly finds his way closer to his mother, Linda Schell (Sandra Bullock). It is only fair to mention the fact that Bullock is one of my least favorite actors in Hollywood and her portrayal of Oskar’s mother was absolutely spot on. Horn possesses a talent that most young actors would die to have. He is smart, charismatic and wise beyond his years (proven by the fact that he won Jeopardy at age thirteen). Horn’s chemistry with each of the characters in the film was impeccable, but the relationship that he built, on screen, with Sydow is unlike anything I had seen before. The two so perfectly fed off of one another; their facial expressions and their body language perfectly encapsulated what was taking place on screen and the two made the tear-jerking story come to life and work better than Foer could have ever imagined. The film is heavy and the dialogue and the presentation of said dialogue by this group of talented actors gave audience and deep and meaningful presentation of life and love. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477302/?ref_=nv_sr_3?ref_=nv_sr_3
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