"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" very moving

I knew that I was going into a very emotional movie. Having the 9/11 attacks as a backdrop and a child’s journey coping would ensure some heartache.

“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” made me tear up and laugh. It also disturbed me at times. But overall, I really liked it.

The story is basically of a precocious yet awkward boy, Oskar Schell (played by Thomas Horn, who loves playing reconnaissance missions and oxymoron wars with his father (Tom Hanks). The missions in particular would force Oskar to think and do, but also approach people, something he fears. Then Oskar’s life changes. His father dies on 9/11, trapped on the 105th floor of one of the Twin Towers. Oskar can’t make sense of it. He questions a funeral without a body. His relationship with his mother (Sandra Bullock) deteriorates. Fast-forward a year, Oskar discovers a key in his father’s closet that he feels is a clue to staying connected with his dad. It’s only clue is an envelop with “Black” on it. So he decides to create one last reconnaissance mission, a crazy search of people with the last name Black so that he can figure where this mysterious key fits.

A subplot features an older man (Max von Sydow) who is staying with Oskar’s grandma. He’s known only as “the Renter” and doesn’t speak. Oskar is not to know this man, but they end up on the journey together to figure out where the mystery key fits.

Oskar does some disturbing things, such as pinching himself and hiding the answering machine (a key plot point). He at one point mentions he was tested for Asperger’s, a form of high-functioning autism, but that it was inconclusive. He needs his tambourine for comfort and fears crossing bridges and using public transportation. He’s obviously different, which may make you forgive him for some of his inappropriate outbursts and actions. I did. Oskar uses some colorful language for a boy so young, takes off on a seemingly dangerous journey meeting strangers and argues with his mother. I don’t recall them saying his age in the movie. He looks like he could be 11 or 12. In the Jonathan Safran Foer book, which the movie is based, Oskar is 9.

Still, I’m glad that I brought my kids with me to view this PG-13 movie. My kids are 11 and 15, but I did worry about how they would interpret the film. They were so little when the 9/11 attacks occurred, so we sheltered them for quite some time. I worried that some 9/11 images, including people falling out of buildings and video of the buildings collapsing, would scare them. It didn’t. They’ve seen enough documentaries now that they are older.

The movie generated a good discussion on our way home. We talked about coping with loss and searching for answers when there may not be one. We’ve been coping with a hospitalized grandparent, so there were some parallels. We spoke of whether Oskar’s behavior was appropriate. We know several kids with autism. And we spoke about 9/11, again.

Both my kids gave the movie 4 stars. I give it an A-/B+. I felt the story was interesting and wasn’t packaged as a totally happy ending, and the acting was excellent.